Bill Maher Plays Footsie With Milo Yiannopolous While He Spouts Racist Rhetoric (Watch)
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On last night's Real Time with Bill Maher, Bill Maher once again proved that he isn't really a progressive anymore, with his hideous flirtation (yes, flirtation) with white supremacist Milo Yiannopolous.
After journalist Jeremy Scahill refused to legitimize Yiannopolous, Maher went ahead with his other guests: Yiannopolous, and how-is-this-guy-not-out Republican Jack Kingston -- a man who can't say a sentence without lying.
Real Time with Bill Maher Legitimizes Milo Yiannopolous
For people who are opposed to bigotry, the show was horrific. Maher willingly took part in the full-scale legitimization of Yiannopolous.
Yiannopolous, the guy who spouts racist and bigoted rhetoric constantly on Twitter, was given a platform to joke around with Maher and play footsie with Maher -- even while Yiannopolous (who is gay) talked about how transgender people are evil and don't deserve any rights.
During the show, Maher repeatedly laughed when Yiannopolous made bigoted remarks. Again and again, Maher sweet-talked him and touched his hand -- something more reminiscent of a Kathrine Heigl movie than a political show.
At one point, Yiannopolous claimed that trans people are more likely to be sexual predators -- something that he had no evidence for -- and Maher didn't even try to question it. Instead, he giggled a little and moved on.
Maher made a few token "I don't agree with you" comments, and every time, he returned to laughing with Yiannopolous.
The two spent more time on the show agreeing with each other (about how bad Muslims are, how calling out Yiannopolous for his 'jokes' is wrong, how trans people don't deserve to use bathrooms, etc.) than they did debating.
You can watch the sickening Real Time with Bill Maher 'Overtime' segment:
The idea that Yiannopolous was portrayed as a likeable, normal person is terrifying.
Just as Jeremy Scahill had suggested, Yiannopolous, with his Hermione-voice and giggle, was shown as a likeable guy -- as opposed to the bigoted, hate-filled man he is. And Maher consistently played along with it.
Here is Maher's softball interview with Yiannopolous:
In the end, the burden of actually debating Yiannopolous was left to Larry Wilmore, who did an admirable job of calling him out on his bigotry. Sadly, it's clear that Bill Maher no longer will.
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