Bill Maher to Steve Bannon: ‘I wish we had someone on our side as evil as you’
HBO’s Bill Maher told former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon that he wished Democrats “had someone on our side as evil as you” following a back-and-forth interview Friday.
Bannon’s visit to “Real Time” comes as Democrats continue to reel from a botched vote count in Iowa earlier this week and President Trump’s acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial.
The former Trump aide argued in his appearance Friday night that Trump’s trial should have had more witnesses to “get it all out.”
“We should’ve had a longer impeachment. We should’ve had Bolton. We should’ve had Mulvaney,” Bannon said, referring to former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
Democrats sought to subpoena both figures for testimony about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, but the GOP-controlled Senate voted almost exclusively along party lines against hearing from more witnesses.
“Witnesses, let ’em get crossed, but we [Republicans] get the whistleblower. We get the second whistleblower. We get [Rep. Adam] Schiff [D-Calif.] as a factor in this. Let’s get it all out,” Bannon said.
During the show, Maher also ripped Democrats for the voting debacle in Iowa that occurred because of a smartphone app that wasn’t fully tested before the caucuses on Monday. The controversy has sparked outrage among Democrats, with some calling for Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez to resign.
“Not everything needs an app! They went and f—ed up the voting!” an exasperated Maher said. “Democrats had a brilliant idea: Let’s give brand-new technology to 90-year-olds voting in a barn.”
At another point in the interview, Bannon took aim at 2020 Democratic candidate and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, stating that the billionaire businessman is buying out the Democratic Party in his run at the nomination.
“He’s a super-rich guy who is going to put billions of dollars to destroy Donald Trump,” Bannon said. “He’s not running against him. It’s a leveraged buyout of the Democratic Party.”
As the interview came to a close, Maher ended the conversation with a compliment of sorts for Bannon.
“I wish we had someone on our side as evil as you,” Maher said jokingly.
Bannon last appeared on “Real Time” in September 2018.
The former Breitbart News chief launched a daily radio show and podcast, “War Room: Impeachment,” last October.
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