HBO host Bill Maher doesn’t believe that God’s hand saved former President Donald Trump from being killed by an assassin’s bullet last week and thinks those that do are getting close to making him a “demigod.”
In the closing monologue of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the host mocked Trump supporters who have claimed that former President Trump’s assassination was prevented by an act of God, telling them to open their eyes and stop with the “magical thinking.”
“Enough is enough with interpreting every event as a DM [direct message] from heaven,” Maher said, rebuking religious Trump supporters during the segment.
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Maher condemned the attempted assassination at the very beginning of his show, as he had shortly after the traumatic event occurred. He told his HBO audience on Friday, “You should be as angry about that as if the candidate you like got shot.”
He also hammered the U.S. Secret Service for appearing to drop the ball in preventing the incident, saying, “You should also be angry that the Secret Service allowed some kid with a sniper rifle and a range finder to get past the metal detectors. What? The TSA once tackled me over a bottle of Visine.”
Later in the show, however, Maher slammed the way some religious Trump fans have characterized his attempted murder.
The segment, titled, “In God We Lust,” began with the host stating, “Since the bullet that was meant for Donald Trump missed him last Saturday, Republicans have been indulging in an orgy of magical thinking, saying things like, ‘Trump wears the armor of God.’”
He shared quotes of various conservatives and pro-Trump influencers who claimed God protected the former President, including one from Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., himself a victim of an assassination attempt in 2017.
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Maher read Scalise’s post about the Trump shooting, which stated, “Yesterday, there were miracles. And I think the hand of God was there too.” The host then joked about how God handled Scalise’s shooting compared to how He handled Trump’s: “Steve was also shot, but God was having an off day. And that bullet missed his ear and went into his spleen.”
Warning his supporters to avoid attaching religious significance to Trump, he continued, “America doesn’t need a demigod. From the pharaohs to Julius Caesar, to Hirohito, many cultures have tried it – the earthly being who is simultaneously divine or god-ish. And it never turns out well.”
Elsewhere in the segment, he ripped religious people who claim to see signs from God in everything, even in mundane inanimate objects.
“There’s a kind of person in this world who loves to see signs in everything, never asking why – if God has something to communicate to us – he doesn’t just f—— say it. He’s God for God’s sakes. Why show up in a flapjack, or a frying pan, or a Walmart receipt?”
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