Bill Maher says KAMALA not Biden should be ditched to save Democrats in 2024
‘Real Time’ host Bill Maher said Democrats needed to drop Kamala Harris, not Joe Biden, to save their chances in the 2024 elections.
On the latest episode Friday, Maher said Democrats didn’t have to fear criticisms that Biden is ‘too old’ to lead, saying the president has always been a ‘gaffe machine.’
Instead, Maher said the key to winning would be dropping Harris as vice president, especially after her latest gaffe of calling North Korea an ‘ally.’
‘What I could see is replacing the vice president because she, yeah, she’s not very popular anywhere,’ he said before quipping that because the party has become so woke, they’d be hard pressed to replace a woman of color on the ticket. ‘
Maher’s remark was met with a round of applause from his liberal-leaning audience.
‘Here’s the problem with the Democratic party, they’re so boxed in by identity politics that you cannot conceive of a Democratic ticket that doesn’t have a woman, a person of color on it.
‘And pretty soon you’re going to line up behind that gay, Latino, and you’re going to have to have, you know, a deaf Eskimo.’
‘Real Time’ host Bill Maher said Democrats needed to drop Kamala Harris, not Joe Biden, if they want to successfully run in 2024
Maher said Biden is already known as a ‘gaffe machine,’ but Harris was just a ‘bad politician’ who has been heavily scrutinized since taking office
Maher’s guest, Atlantic staff writer Caitlin Flanagan, agreed the optics around Harris were poor from the beginning.
Harris, a former California attorney general saw her own presidential aspirations dashed after a series of debates where opponents pointed to her office’s incarceration rates for marijuana possession charges.
‘In addition, for some reason, an off-putting person, she also has, I think, a lot of baggage that wouldn’t do well under a lot of scrutiny,’ Flanagan said.
While Flanagan called Harris a ‘heat-seeking missile’ for bad publicity, Maher simply called the vice president ‘a bad politician.’
‘I think she’s a very bright person, but I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I can see them doing that because a lot of the problem with Biden being old is: “Oh, if he dies, then you’re going to get this person.” ‘
CNN contributor Van Jones agreed Biden remains a fairly popular candidate who would be Democrat’s best shot against a Donald Trump campaign, adding that Harris ‘wouldn’t be weight on the ticket.’
Maher said that while Biden has long been known to suffer from gaffes throughout his political career, Harris doesn’t have that reputation, so her mistakes cause larger problems for the party.
During remarks at the conclusion of her visit to the DMZ, Harris touted the alliance the US has with ‘the Republican North Korea’ – an embarrassing gaffe on the heels of President Joe Biden asking the crowd to identify a decease congresswoman the day prior
The stenographer’s transcript for the vice president showed the word ‘North’ crossed out for her remarks despite Harris not correcting her mistake in real-time during the speech. This is common practice for the White House stenographers when fact-checking transcripts
One of the recent Harris gaffes Maher took issue with was during her speech at the demilitarized zone in South Korean, where she mistakenly touted a US alliance with ‘North Korea.’
‘The United States shares a very important relationship, which is an alliance with the Republic of North Korea,’ Harris said during a speech at the DMZ Thursday, intending to refer to the Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea.
‘It is an alliance that is strong and enduring,’ she continued, not appearing to recognize her mistake.
Her remarks professing United States support for South Korea’s defense came as North Korea launched yet another missile on Thursday in the face of the vice president’s trip to Asia.
A communications advisor for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called Harris a ‘flat-out moron’ for her remarks.
That same day, Harris was further scrutinized for bumbling behavior at the DMZ.
Video of Harris’ trip shows the vice president, accompanied by US soldiers, marveling as she looked into North Korea.
‘There’s something about seeing it… with your own eyes,’ Harris comments. ‘And it’s so close.’
The service member then corrects her, saying: ‘It’s 50 meters away, mam.’
‘Oh, right,’ she replied.
Kamala Harris at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas (Leah Millis/AP)
The vice president then suddenly begins talking to the US and South Korean soldiers at the DMZ about NASA’s Webb telescope, which has been taking pictures of distant galaxies.
‘Have you seen the photographs from the Webb telescope,’ Harris tells the officers, who appeared confused about the unrelated topic.
‘It’s the most humbling thing,’ Harris adds as the service members politely nod. ‘You’ve got to see it.’
Following the trip to Asia, the vice president was slammed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ rapid response director, Christina Pushaw, after Harris made comments regarding the release of federal relief funds following Hurricane Ian.
Speaking at the Democratic National Committee’s Women’s Leadership Forum on Friday, Harris said it was people of color and lower-income communities who are ‘most impacted by these extreme [weather] conditions.’
The devastation inflicted on Florida came into focus a day after Ian struck as a monstrous Category 4 hurricane, one of the strongest storms ever to hit the US.
It flooded homes on both the state’s coasts, cut off the only road access to a barrier island, destroyed a historic waterfront pier and knocked out electricity to 2.67 million Florida homes and businesses — nearly a quarter of utility customers.
Harris, 57, was discussing climate change with actress Priyanka Chopra in Washington, DC when she made her comments.
Harris, 57, was discussing climate change with actress Priyanka Chopra when she made her controversial comments
Harris said of the relief: ‘We have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity’
The vice president continued: ‘I know we are all thinking about the families in Florida and Puerto Rico with [Hurricane] Fiona and what we need to do to help them in terms of an immediate response and aid.’
She went on: ‘We have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity.’
Harris added: ‘Understanding not everyone starts out at the same place, and if we want people to be in an equal place, sometimes we have to take into account those disparities.’
Just a few hours later, Pushaw took Harris to task over her comments.
‘This is false. @VP’s rhetoric is causing undue panic and must be clarified. FEMA Individual Assistance is already available to all Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian, regardless of race or background,’ she tweeted.
Pushaw went on to encourage her followers who need assistance in the wake of the hurricane to call 1-800-621-3362 or log on to Disasterassistance.gov.
The world’s wealthiest man, Elon Musk weighed in on Harris’ comments
Pushaw, who formerly worked as DeSantis’ press secretary, followed up her original message saying: ‘The @VP needs to correct what she said as well. A real journalist would simply ask her to clarify what she meant by those comments and why she misrepresented the relief effort.’
The world’s wealthiest man, Elon Musk, joined in on calling out Harris.
He commented on Ryan Fournier, the founder of Students for Trump’s, tweet about Harris. Musk said that relief should be dispensed ‘according to greatest need, not race or anything else.’
Fournier had tweeted: ‘You can’t make this up. Kamala Harris said the administration will be giving hurricane resources ‘based on equity’ by directing funds to ‘communities of color.’ I guess everyone else is just screwed.’