‘Indoctrination Factories!’ Bill Maher Hypes Trump Putting ‘Hot Poker’ Up Academia’s ‘A**’
Bill Maher threw some support behind President Donald Trump’s “war on academia,” declaring universities have become “indoctrination factories” and needed a “hot poker up their ass.”
In the Overtime segment of Friday’s Real Time, Maher and guests James Kirchick and Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) answered fan questions, including one on Trump’s “war on academia.” The question follows Brown University reaching an agreement with the Trump administration to restore federal funding for research and end investigations into alleged discrimination. The agreement includes eliminating race as a consideration in their admissions process. It’s the latest school to be targeted by Trump’s administration over DEI policies and more.
According to Maher, universities have become “anti-America” while Trump is viewed as “too pro-America.”
“I’m not totally agin’ it. Academia needed a hot poker up the ass,” Maher said, busting out some southern twang. “I’m not saying… the way he’s doing it, of course, is the right way. You know, to defund scientific research is not the way to do it. But I mean, our universities have been out of control for a long time. They became indoctrination factories. They forgot, there’s absolutely no diversity of thought.”
“Well, and they’re continuing to racially discriminate,” Kirchick added.
“And that!” Maher agreed.
Crow argued Trump is not interested in addressing real concerns in regards to college, including increasing overhead.
“I also want to be really clear that Donald Trump is not interested in making them more efficient or getting rid of overhead or dealing with affordability. This is his woke culture war. This is His culture war against things that he doesn’t believe in and want to see,” the congressman said.
Maher countered that it didn’t take someone as far right as Trump to see something is “rotten” in higher education.
He argued:
Well, you don’t have to be Donald Trump to think that there’s been something rotten on campuses for quite a long time. When you cannot speak the other side of the coin, when conservative thought, whatever you think of it, is just verboten, which is basically what happened on the — and some of the ideas, I mean, why do you think they erupted, so many of them, in cheers for what happened October 7? Why do you have professors coming out there and saying they were exhilarated by this mass massacre of people? Okay, that didn’t happen overnight. Something, you know, ivory towers. And also, they’re just very anti-America. Now, Trump is too pro-America.
Watch above via HBO.
