Bill Maher, host of "Real Time," declared he wouldn’t "pre-hate" the incoming Trump administration, despite his personal dislike of Donald Trump.
“They are calling themselves the ‘disruptors,’” Maher said during a panel discussion Friday night. “The country does need disrupting. It needs a colonic and a slap in the face so bad.”
“This is not who I would choose to administer the colonic, but it’s not like the bureaucracy isn’t bloated. It’s not like the debt isn’t $36 trillion. It’s not like there aren’t thousands of regulations that stop people from living better lives and don’t do anything. There is woke in the military. Whatever they’re going after… I’m not going to pre-hate anything,” Maher added.
“Do I have really good, optimistic feelings about it? No, I don’t. But I’m just not gonna pre-hate. Let’s see what the disruptors can do. The experts have let things go for so long that it’s just sclerotic now and constipated,” he continued.
Maher expressed skepticism about how effective these "disruptors" would be, citing obstacles like the "corn lobby," "pharmaceutical industry," and "defense contractors."
“Let’s see what happens,” Maher said simply.
Later, Maher acknowledged Trump’s approach to resolving the Russia-Ukraine war might have merit. He pointed to the Biden administration’s decision to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-made missiles into Russia, escalating tensions.
“It just looks like everybody’s coming on board to the idea that… I hate to admit it, Trump said at the beginning, it’s gonna be a negotiated settlement,” Maher stated. “Marco Rubio was saying… he’s going to be Secretary of State. And I feel like… they are losing the war, Ukraine. They’re noble, and we support them in spirit, but should we do it as we have been?”
Maher then compared the war to last week’s boxing match between 27-year-old influencer Jake Paul and 58-year-old boxing legend Mike Tyson. “Everyone was talking about it. ‘Oh, what’s gonna happen?’ And then you saw the fight and realized… we kind of knew from the beginning that a 58-year-old man who was over the hill in the ’90s wasn’t gonna beat this 27-year-old behemoth,” Maher explained.
Last week, Maher showed openness to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. potentially leading the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Well, the system as it is, the way we do health, is already very f---ed,” Maher remarked. “So maybe he’ll make it worse. But, like, my head is not exploding about it.”