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HBO host Bill Maher told TV personality Billy Bush in an interview published Monday that he might have been too hard on his cousin, former President George W. Bush, during his time in office.
During the latest episode of Maher’s “Club Random” podcast, the host said that although he doesn’t regret his criticism of the 43rd president, he has “more perspective” in the age of President Donald Trump and could have been less antagonistic toward him.
“But I also have things much more in perspective. He should know that yes, I probably, looking back, could have been more reasonable,” Maher told Billy Bush.
Maher asked Bush to pass along his message to the former Republican president after the show.
“First of all, I was very hard on him,” he told his guest.
Maher added, “You know, I was hard. I’m not taking it back. I wasn’t for the invasion of Iraq or, you know, I mean, just the basic Republican policies that he championed were not exactly my cup of tea.”
Billy Bush told Maher he should bust his “a–” to get former President Bush on the show, saying he was an “easy hang” and also quite funny. Maher said he would “love to talk to” him on the show if possible.
George W. Bush, who served two terms from 2001 to 2009, was the last Republican president before Trump’s ascension in 2016. Trump took over the Republican Party and was highly critical of the Bush era during his campaign. Among the Republicans that Trump vanquished in the 2016 primary fight was another of his guest’s cousins, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
The progressive comedian has continued to criticize the former president over the years. In a 2013 Vanity Fair column, Maher reflected on Bush’s presidency in a negative light.
During a 2016 segment of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the host slammed Jeb Bush for inviting his brother to help him campaign for the nomination.
After criticizing Bush’s Iraq invasion, Maher asked his panel, “Shouldn’t George W. Bush be the least popular guy among the military? It’s like battered wife syndrome. Why do you like a guy who sent you to lose lives and limbs and be away from your family to a war we now agree was not necessary?”
On his podcast, Maher told Bush’s cousin that he also felt the former president’s idea of privatizing social security “wasn’t like the worst idea.”
He also praised Bush for his kind words toward former President Barack Obama when he won the presidency, contrasting the move with Trump’s sharp partisanship.
“I’ve also mentioned many times that, you know, to contrast him with where we are now, when Obama won, he was in office. [Bush] had him in there… He said, ‘We want you to succeed’ — which is something you can’t imagine Donald Trump saying,” Maher said.
“It was just a different era where we were Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, but it wasn’t at this horrible place we are now,” he added.
Billy Bush noted Maher’s meeting with Trump earlier this year, another figure he’s highly critical of, and the liberal uproar over their dinner.
“You got so much s— for that,” he told Maher.
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