Maher challenges liberals to have ‘intellectual honesty’ and call out local leaders over California fires
Liberal talk show host Bill Maher argued that liberals who usually politicize tragedies are silent when Democratic leaders are to blame.
Many California residents, including celebrities, have lost their homes in the Pacific Palisades area as wildfires continue to rage there and elsewhere in Los Angeles County, burning more than 27,000 acres, destroying over 10,000 structures and killing at least 25 people, according to local officials.
While LA Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have taken some criticism for their management before and during the devastating fires, Maher argued in a TMZ interview that more critics need to speak out and hold liberal leaders responsible.
Talk show host Bill Maher argued local Democratic leaders in California should be held accountable by their fellow Democrats.
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“I’m with the people who want to hold politicians accountable,” Maher said to the news outlet.
The comedian highlighted that many liberals are saying, “We shouldn’t talk about it now,” describing them as “hypocritical.”
“It’s so funny to hear that coming out of the mouths of liberals, because they hate it when conservatives say that after a gun tragedy, which is what conservatives always say after a mass-shooting. ‘This is not the time to politicize it.’ And then it never is,” Maher said. “It is absolutely the time to talk about it.”
While he said that there are some other factors making some level of the disaster inevitable, such as global warming, he stood by his assertion that “errors” were made.
“Was it always going to be bad? Of course,” Maher said. “Their arguments are not wrong. We built the city in a terrible place to build a city. Global warming absolutely does make hot stuff and weather worse. Winds were ridiculous. Yeah, I get all that. And they also made a lot of errors.”
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Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Ethan Swope/AP)
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Maher added that “If you held Bush accountable for Katrina” then “you have to have some intellectual honesty in criticizing your team when they don’t do it right. And they’ve had a long time to get this right-er.”
The HBO host also stressed that somehow such disasters “always seem to be the worst they possibly could be” – a sign that more should be expected of leaders.
“I think we should demand better,” Maher argued.
