Last night, Bill Maher broke the hiatus and came back with a vengeance. It was his mid-show guest Ralph Reed Jr. who created the biggest hoopla with his defense of Donald Trump and mega-churches being allowed to push political agendas from the pulpit.
This week’s other guests were Vice President Al Gore who was the top of the show interview, and panelists Kristen Soltis Anderson, Joshua Green, Michael Weiss.
The big story comes from Maher’s affable interview that turned south as Ralph Reed Jr., a frequent Maher guest, defended Trump vigorously and lauded his good work advancing the Evangelical political agenda.
More disturbingly, Reed spoke out about protecting prosperity ministries and mega-churches from the tax man.
Reed condemned the IRS targeting churches’ tax-exempt status, despite political statements funneled through ministries promoting certain candidates.
This enraged Maher who said churches were selling a product and not allowed to remain tax-exempt if they used their ministry to push politics, saying to Reed: “Then just pay your [churches] taxes.”
Reed pushed on: “When I first got to know Donald Trump seven years ago, I didn’t expect to like him…every time he told me he was going to do something he did it, his word is his bond.”
Maher said that Trump “kissed his [evangelicals] a**” and that Trump was the “least Christian man ever.”
Growing more frustrated at Reed’s defense of Trump, Maher said: “He’s [Trump] a giant liar…You forgive all other lies because the one you care about he kept.”
“I don’t throw the term anti-Christ around regularly, but when I think about anti-Christ and Trump I think, yeah,” Maher said, adding that Jesus called Satan the “father of lies,” and compared Trump’s mendacious track record of bold-faced whoppers.
Maher added that Jesus wasn’t a big fan of egomaniacs and rich people, of which Trump ticked both boxes.
Monologue, Bill’s back but his head is ready to explode with Trump’s ongoing administrative whack-a-mole:
Bill listening to Al Gore talk about climate change: #BeInconvenient
Former Vice President Al Gore joins Bill to discuss his latest documentary and call to action, “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
New Rule: What If Obama Said It? Bill shows how the Republicans might react if Barack Obama said what Donald Trump has done– with a little help from Obama impersonator Reggie Brown:
Web bonus Overtime with Bill Maher and his guests – Ralph Reed, Kristen Soltis Anderson, Joshua Green, and Michael Weiss – answer viewer questions after the show about bible study to leakers in the White House:
Real Time with Bill Maher airs Fridays at 10pm on HBO.