Bill Maher shut down Charlamange Tha God after the radio host made a polarizing comment about race during Friday night’s episode of Maher’s show.
During his interview, Charlamange stated that black people have to be five times better to succeed in America.
The radio host’s statement made Maher angry and he replied, “I think it’s a zombie lie.”
The exchange between the two personalities came after Maher mentioned President Biden’s commencement speech at Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta, Georgia.
Bill Maher shut down Charlamange Tha God after the radio host made a polarizing comment about race during Friday night’s episode of Maher’s show. During his interview, Charlamange stated that black people have to be five times better to be successful in America.
During Biden’s speech, he asked graduate students, “What is democracy if you have to be ten times better than anyone else to have a fair chance?”
Discussing Biden’s graduation speech, the comedian said, “One of the most controversial things (Biden) said to his graduating class was that you have to be 10 times better to have a fair shot in America.”
Charlamange, who recently announced he would not endorse Biden for president in 2024, agreed.
Maher then invoked the reactions of two prominent Black intellectuals (Glenn Loury, an economist, and John McWhorter, a linguist) to Biden’s comment.
The comedian looked at his notes and read the economist’s comments: “Loury said, ‘I thought this was the kind of speech you would have given in 1974, maybe 1984, but not in 2024.'”
Maher then read a statement made by McWhorter: ‘For the love of God, can we admit that time passes? I remember my mother saying that in the ’70s, when it still made sense. “It is simply not true anymore and we should celebrate it.”
California. The radio host’s statement made Maher angry and he replied, “I think it’s a zombie lie.”
Maher and Charlamange argued after Maher mentioned Biden’s commencement speech at HBCU Morehouse College, where the president said graduating students would need to work ten times harder to succeed in America.
The TV host then asked Charlamange, who two months ago dismissed DEI programs as “mostly garbage,” if he agreed with Biden.
“I don’t know if it’s 10 times better, but maybe five,” the radio personality responded.
Maher, visibly irritated, said: ‘Come on… you think you have to be five times (better)?’
“Yes, when you’re black in America, absolutely,” Charlamange insisted.
‘In 2024?’ the comedian responded in shock.
“When you’re black in America, when you’re a woman in America, when you’re a black woman in America, absolutely.”
Frustrated by Charlamange’s stance, Maher snapped, “I think it’s a zombie lie.”
‘Because?’ The Breakfast Club host asked.
“Because I don’t think that’s America anymore,” the comedian joked.
Charlamagne tha God criticized Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives, calling them “mostly garbage” and “nonsense” during an appearance on The Daily Show.
The heated exchange between the two personalities occurred during an episode of Maher’s HBO show, Real Time with Bill Maher.
In addition to Charlamange Tha God, Maher was joined by political strategist Ana Navarro and journalist Joel Stein for Friday’s episode.
At one point in the show, the comedian made a dire prediction for Democrats, prophesying that they would lose in November if they continued with their current line on immigration.
Maher has been pessimistic about President Joe Biden’s re-election chances due to perceptions about his age and the millions of illegal immigrants crossing the border.
Maher compared last week’s European Union elections, in which far-right parties made huge gains, to the upcoming US elections on November 5.
Immigration was not the only reason for the shift to the right, particularly in Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Italy, but it was an important point of the campaign.
In addition to Charlamange Tha God, Maher was joined by political strategist Ana Navarro and journalist Joel Stein for Friday’s episode.
Migrants wait in line hoping to be processed by Customs and Border Patrol agents after groups arrived in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, after walking in intense heat from Mexico to the United States.
“Voters in the European Parliament said again that we don’t like so much immigration,” Maher said on his show.
Maher noted that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was often called a fascist for some of her far-right positions, but argued that moderate parties were allowing her to do so.
“If liberals insist that enforcing borders is a job only fascists will do, then voters will hire fascists to do what liberals won’t do,” he said, citing a 2019 article in The Atlantic.
‘Voters keep saying over and over again that we are not comfortable with this level of immigration. I understand why. It doesn’t make you racist to say that.
Maher did not specify why voters were uncomfortable with immigration, other than it was not solely due to racism.
He argued that the problem Democrats had with the issue was summed up by Sen. Alex Padilla’s response to Biden’s executive order limiting border crossings.
“By reviving Trump’s asylum ban, Biden has undermined American values,” the California lawmaker was quoted as saying.
Maher noted that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (pictured with Joe Biden at the G7 meeting on Thursday) was often called a fascist for some of her far-right positions, but argued that moderate parties were allowing her
And then everyone steps back and says, ‘We don’t want to be called racist.’ “So we will not move forward on immigration.”
Maher argued that this was exactly the wrong response, as it misjudged the current mood of American voters.
“This is going to screw them up on election day. It’s happening in Europe right now. This is demonstrated in Europe and it will happen here in the United States.” he said.
‘It happened with Brexit. It’s going to happen again.”
Brexit, in which the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, was disputed on many fronts, but one factor was the facilitation of migration to Britain from Europe.
One of Maher’s guests, Joel Stein, responded by arguing that there was a “real moral reason” to admit the asylum seekers.
Volunteers distribute food to migrants who crossed into the United States from Mexico in Jacumba Hot Springs, California.
—Any number? Maher asked, to which Stein agreed that it couldn’t be infinite. But that’s the point of it!’ Maher exclaimed in response.
Maher then cited a poll in which 64 percent of Hispanics said they supported giving the president authority to close the border.
Another 64 percent of all registered voters would immediately deport all immigrants “living in the United States illegally.”
“Yes, people hate immigrants,” Stein said of the survey results, but Maher insisted that wasn’t true, at least not as a sweeping generalization.
Biden’s executive order would close asylum claims when the average daily number of arrivals reached 2,500, and keep them closed until it fell to 1,500.
There are concerns that Biden’s order is not legally valid, since detaining people seeking asylum would violate international treaties or be an overreach of presidential authority, which is what the survey was about.
Seeking asylum at the border, as the vast majority of recent immigrants do, is not illegal, but sneaking in without asking for asylum is.
Maher made a similar warning last week on his show, when he called Biden’s executive order a last-minute ‘Hail Mary’ that wouldn’t work.
“If Biden loses this election, it will be because of two things: he is old… and immigration,” he said.
“I mean, just on a political level, I don’t think they could have handled it any worse.”