Rapper and activist Killer Mike (Mike Render) is booked on the Friday night talk show Real Time with Bill Maher.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is booked as the top-of-show interview plus panelists:
- New York Times correspondent/author Carl Hulse.
- Republican strategist/author Rick Wilson.
- Reporter Betsy Woodruff.
This marks the fifth time Mike has been booked on Bill Maher’s topical news show.
A longtime Bernie Sanders supporter, Render recently told Yahoo News that he still is pulling for the Senator with a big asterisk, saying: “I’m going to support the most progressive campaign that’s in that race … The most progressive policy that’s good for my community.”
Killer Mike joins the ranks of other frequent guests like Ann Coulter, Seth MacFarlane, and Matt Taibbi. He was previously booked on Season 13 (2015), Season 14 (2016), Season 15 (2017) and Season 16 (2018).
Maher, who favors booking the rapper and one half of the group Run The Jewels, has been under scrutiny for using racial language in some episodes, notably the 2017 interview with Sen. Ben Sasse.
In the course of the interview, the Nebraska senator invited Maher to “work in the fields with us” to which Maher jokingly responded he was a “house n****r.”
That joke fell flat and immediately a firestorm erupted on social media about his usage of the word. Maher quickly issued an apology about making a joke using the word in question.
Since then Mike has been asked about his feelings toward Maher and was not fazed by the comic/pundit’s use of the word in the context it was presented.
Politics will undoubtedly come up Friday night as Mike is hedging his bets on Sanders, and the current stock market immolation will be top trending subjects too along with POTUS’s stance on legal immigrants’ access to any public assistance benefits as well.
Gun rights and ownership regulations are also under the public scrutiny with the recent U.S. mass shootings, and Maher will likely question Killer Mike’s stance on this issue once again.
The son of a policeman, Killer Mike is an on-the-record strong pro-gun advocate and a member of the National African American Gun Association.
Real Time with Bill Maher airs Fridays at 10 PM on HBO.