Bill Maher and Megyn Kelly got into a tense argument over their support for former President Donald Trump and how much emphasis should be placed on the fact that many Republican voters deny the results of the 2020 election.
Maher attended Kelly’s SiriusXM radio show on Tuesday and the two began surprisingly cordial, commenting that they both lacked a “political home.”
But when Kelly, who is a registered independent, said she would vote for Trump in 2024, it infuriated the liberal comedian.
“Well, I mean, I can’t even understand that, and I understand that Biden is deeply flawed, but he does believe in our way of life.”
President Joe Biden has the support of Maher, who told Newsweek in March that he would vote for ‘Biden’s head in a jar of blue liquid‘ about Trump.
Bill Maher and Megyn Kelly facing each other on their SiriusXM show
In fact, Trump has commented on Kelly’s support for him, saying that she was “making a career” by “pretending” to like him.
The former Fox News host’s feud with Trump dates back to when Kelly moderated a 2016 presidential debate and asked him a direct question about how he treats women.
However, his support for Trump led Maher to repeatedly condemn what happened during the 2020 election.
Maher said Trump’s refusal to concede the election and his claims that it was fraudulently stolen from him amount to him violating the norms that have held the country together from the beginning.
“What could be more fundamental for you or anyone than conceding elections?” Maher asked Kelly. And the last one has not granted it. It is clear that he is not going to concede this.
“Now he has all his sycophants around him parroting his party line, and that’s when they ask them: ‘Will you respect the election results?’ ‘Yes, if they are free and fair elections,’ which is another way.” to say “if we win”.
‘Do you really think this is where this country should be?’
Kelly responded by saying he would not defend “election denialism.”
“I’m not one of those people who believes that,” Kelly added.
As of December 2023, 31 percent of Republicans believe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election.
The same poll sees a drop from December 2021 to December 2023 across all parties in those who think President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory was “legitimate.”
Maher then intervened and asked Kelly what’s more important than “election denialism.”
‘What if my daughter doesn’t walk into a locker room and see a man’s penis?’ she responded, referring to the series of incidents in which trans women have been seen in the women’s locker rooms of gyms and other recreational areas.
Planet Fitness is a gym that has been plagued with this problem. More recently, a man allegedly taking advantage of the woke company’s transgender locker room policy went to the women’s facility, stripped naked and exposed his genitals.
A woman was kicked out of Planet Fitness in March for reporting that a “trans woman” was shaving in the women’s locker room.
Maher acknowledged the importance of addressing gender and how bathroom policies should work, but refocused on how the upcoming election is crucial for democracy.
‘I’m talking about the difference between this and something fundamental, which is our democracy. The fact that we have to respect who wins the elections, or else we won’t have the kind of country we’ve always had before,” he stated.
Maher repeatedly insisted that Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election is a more important “fundamental” issue than the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Kelly argued that President Biden’s policies are “as sensible as possible” and that he has chosen to keep the border open.
While Kelly agreed with Maher that the election was not stolen and added that he did not believe there was any substance to the claim that Dominion voting machines were compromised, he made a pitch to Republican voters by saying that the election of 2020 “were not stolen.” “It’s not fair” to Trump.
‘What wasn’t fair?’ -Maher asked.
‘Don’t get me started, what wasn’t fair? How about suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story?
Maher looked incredulous: ‘Oh, for God’s sake, really? So we’re not as similar as you think. That’s a stupid non-story.
The New York Post originally published the story in October based on documents pulled from Hunter’s laptop detailing alleged corruption within the Biden family.
Twitter prevented its users from sharing that story, which claimed Hunter was involved with a Chinese oil giant and that then-presidential candidate Joe Biden potentially received money from the deal his son struck with the foreign company.
The New York Post story claimed that Hunter (left) was involved with a Chinese oil giant and that then-presidential candidate Joe Biden potentially received money from the deal his son struck with the foreign company.
Images of Hunter Biden naked, smoking crack appear to be in tweets that Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign staff ordered Twitter to remove, according to revelations.
The information published by the Post was widely dismissed as false or “Russian disinformation,” prompting Facebook to remove the story as well.
Kelly pointed to polling data that has shown that if Americans had known the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop were authentic, many of them would have voted differently.
A poll from right-leaning TIPP Insights in December 2022 showed that 28 percent of adults who followed Hunter Biden’s story would have voted differently if the FBI hadn’t claimed it was all Russian disinformation.
Maher acknowledged that the story should not have been suppressed, although he said he believes the story would not have changed the outcome of the election.
“These are typical right-wing talking points, evil Hunter Biden and evil Joe Biden,” Maher said.
“You’re obviously someone who looks at an elephant and a mouse and asks which is bigger,” he added, comparing the Hunter Biden laptop story issue to the denial of the 2020 election.
Kelly was quick to hit back.
“You keep saying I’m crazy because I don’t see the difference between the elephant and the mouse and I tell you I identify them differently than you do,” Kelly told Maher. ‘Hillary Clinton, of course, is the original election denier. I’m sure you voted for her in 2016.
Kelly was referring to Clinton’s 2019 comments on CBS’ Sunday Morning where she said Trump “knows he’s an illegitimate president.”
Maher noted that Clinton conceded the election to Trump the day after the 2016 election, something Trump never did after the 2020 election.