Maher calls out SNL for 'zombie lie' that Republicans are racist, warns they are 'not helping'
Bill Maher called out 'Saturday Night Live' for its portrayal of Trump supporters, saying it 'doesn't ring true'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Talk show host Bill Maher called out liberal writers on "Saturday Night Live" for their portrayal of conservatives, arguing they used an outdated stereotype.
Maher spoke about the current state of American culture with fitness icon and commentator Jillian Michaels in an episode of "Club Random" released on Sunday. After Maher spoke about Trump’s unique appeal as a brash outsider willing to be called "deplorable" by his detractors, Michaels marveled at how Democrats are still tarring his supporters.
"The whole ‘deplorable’" thing," Michaels said, referring to then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton infamously smearing Trump’s supporters as "a basket of deplorables," noting, "They’re still doing that."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Michaels recalled having met outspoken liberal actor Tom Hanks multiple times, saying he was "lovely" in person, but crossed a line with his portrayal of a Trump supporter on "Saturday Night Live." Hanks portrayed a caricature of an unkempt racist Southerner in a MAGA hat named "Doug" several times on the sketch comedy show. In one famous moment in the recurring "Black Jeopardy" sketch, Doug initially balks at shaking the hand of the Black host, before eventually relenting.
Tom Hanks attends the premiere of "A Man Called Otto" at Filmstaden Rigoletto on December 13, 2022, in Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images) (Michael Campanella)
TOM HANKS HAMMERED FOR 'DISGUSTING' PORTRAYAL OF WHITE TRUMP SUPPORTER IN SNL SKIT
"I hated it too, and I said it on my show. I know. I hated it. Wearing the MAGA hat, not shaking hands with a Black person. And that’s when I thought, ‘You people don’t know MAGA people,’" Maher said. "I mean, they have their issues and I certainly have my issues with them, but they’re general — I mean, of course, there’s some racists everywhere who are that bad, but generally, all the MAGA people I know have no problem shaking hands with a Black person."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Maher then appeared to address the people behind such a portrayal by declaring, "You’re just hysterical, and you’re not helping."
Maher referred to such a smear of Trump supporters as a "zombie lie."
"Mostly what I hate is, it’s what I call a zombie lie. Don’t lie to me," he said, again addressing those who smear Trump supporters. "It’s a lie that MAGA people won’t shake hands with — I get it, it’s part of a skit, and it’s exaggeration, and that’s comedy. It’s a little too delicate a subject to just make — to go there for that one. You know, look, we all in comedy step over the line sometimes or do one that they want to take back. I doubt if they want to take that one back. I think they probably think it’s great."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tom Hank's character "Doug" initially balking at shaking the host's hand.
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One of the rules of comedy, said Maher - a comedian himself - is that good jokes have to have some element of observational truth about the world in them.
"But I’m telling you, as a liberal, I don’t like it," he said. "Again, because lying offends me. I’m a comedian. When the premise isn’t real, I can’t go with — the joke is not gonna work. The premise has to ring true. That premise doesn’t ring true. It might have rang true, I don’t know, X years ago. It doesn’t now. So, you know — but that’s where we are. Everybody has to just play the hate card, because that’s what gets clicks. That’s what gets you loved by your side."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bill Maher blasted "Saturday Night Live," arguing they are using an outdated "zombie lie" to condemn conservatives.