WATCH: Bill Maher Compares Elizabeth Warren to Angry Wife Embarrassing Her Husband in Restaurant
Comic-slash-political pundit Bill Maher said that Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren “played the woman card” on Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and likened their viral post-debate confrontation to a wife making a scene in public.
On Friday night’s edition of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, the host devoted part of his monologue to the roiling controversy that erupted this week after a bombshell story emerged that Sanders had told Warren — during a private meeting in December of 2018 — that a woman can’t win the presidency against President Donald Trump.
To recap: Sanders responded by accusing the Warren campaign of leaking the story, and of “lying” about what happened at that meeting, so Warren was forced to set the record straight. In a statement, she confirmed that at that meeting, “Among the topics that came up was what would happen if Democrats nominated a female candidate. I thought a woman could win; he disagreed.”
The controversy came up during the debate, where Sanders repeated his denial, Senator Warren repeated her confirmation, then deftly pivoted to an empowering response about the electability of women. The controversy culminated in a post-debate confrontation that has now become public, in which Warren confronted Sanders for calling her a “liar” and Sanders countercharged that she had called him a liar before storming off and saying they should discuss it some other time.
Maher’s take may have helped answer those who have wondered why Warren didn’t reveal this sooner. During his monologue, Maher said “As you know, Elizabeth Warren a couple of weeks ago played the woman card and said Bernie, in a private meeting a couple of years ago, said a woman can’t get elected president.”
There was never a shred of evidence that Warren leaked the story, and new reporting suggests it may have emanated from an off-the-record dinner with journalists.
“And then at the debate, Bernie was asked about this and he said ‘No I didn’t,’ And he said ‘And besides that the fact that that he would say that is just like a woman!'” Maher continued, then described the post-debate confrontation.
“So after the debate Elizabeth Warren went right up to him, you saw this moment, and he went to shake her hand and she said ‘Don’t touch me!'” Maher said with a feminine affect. “if you haven’t seen the movie “Marriage Story,” this is like that movie in seven seconds.”
“She’s like ‘You called me a liar!’ and he’s like ‘Why are you bringing up old shit?'” Maher continued, imitating Warren and Sanders. “‘You called me a liar.’ ‘Let’s not do this here,’ ‘No, I want to talk about it in front of the whole restaurant!'” Maher said.
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are United States senators who are not married to each other.
Watch the full monologue above via HBO.
