There’s only one topic in politics right now, and it’s all about Joe, as Bill Maher noted at the top of his show, then concluded in his “New Rules” closing editorial with a crystal clear statement: “He is not going to be the Democrat candidate in 2024.”
“What a time to be in America,” said Maher in his opening monologue. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s harder to get this guy to pull out than Nick Cannon.” He then noted, “It’s like a horror movie you watch through your fingers.”
Maher said that every appearance now by Biden is characterized as “make or break,” saying, “It’s what it was like to be on the last tour with Glen Campbell.”
For those who insist that withdrawing from the presidential race has to be Biden’s choice, Maher added, “which is kind of like letting the drunk decide that he’s okay to drive.”
This week’s one-on-one interview was with Kevin McCarthy, the 55th Speaker of the House and former Republican congressman who represented California’s 20th district.
The two engaged in a “whatabout” type discussion, where each point raised was deflected without resolution. The topics raised included which party is the bigger threat to democracy, whether there was a concession in the last two presidential elections, and whether some strange pronouncements recorded were meant as a joke.
This week’s panel discussion included Bakari Sellers, former South Carolina state representative, podcast host, and author of The Moment: Thoughts on the Race Reckoning That Wasn’t and How We All Can Move Forward Now; and Ben Shapiro, The Daily Wire co-founder, editor emeritus, and host of the syndicated radio show and daily podcast, The Ben Shapiro Show.
The argument basically pitted Sellers, a staunch defender of Biden, against Shapiro, who struggled to get a word in.
Maher, of course, has been calling the president “Ruth Bader Biden” for a few years, and sat trying to get the conversation toward a solution. He noted that Biden’s NATO speech was not a knockout, and that “he’s not a vegetable. He can think.”
Shapiro quickly quipped, “In certain hours.”
Maher was perturbed that Biden’s “performance every moment of the rest of the campaign will be bigger than any message.” And given that, “each time he goes out there, he’s digging a little deeper.”
Shapiro posited, “I want to know why people think he will finish out a sceond term, and why for two years people who said that were labeled a crazy kook.”
Maher took off the gloves in his “New Rules” segment. After noting that Biden won’t be the candidate, he gave his reasons why: “America is run by mean girls in the press, in politics and in life. When they smell blood in the water, they can’t be denied.”
He targeted Aug. 9 as the date Biden will give up, then gave a rundown on the possible replacement candidates.
Kamala Harris has in her three years as VP, “been quieter than an electric car.”
Gavin Newsom is “the only governor who looks like they could do porn.” But he would have a great political slogan: “I’m Havin’ Gavin.”
Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, “owns dogs, but doesn’t shoot them.”
Pete Buttigieg “checks the gay best friend box.”
Finally, Maher offered a field of governors who are largely unknown, but that’s a positive. “We need new characters on this sitcom we call a country.”
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