Comedian Bill Maher said Monday that 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump getting shot will be “one of my favorite days of 2024.”
On July 13, there was an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was grazed by a bullet to the ear. Maher told Matt Friend, host of the podcast “Friends in a High Place,” that it was “very Trump-like” that Trump survived while the gunman killed another man in the crowd, 50-year-old volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore.
“That will be one of my favorite days of 2024,” Maher said.
“Trump assassination attempt?” my friend said, laughing.
“Yeah. That day. Because…” Maher continued. Friend laughed again. “You know what?”
“That's the clip!” my friend shouted.
Mr Maher told the Friend that his comments “would be different” if Trump had been “killed”, and said it was “very Trump-like” that he had survived.
“If he had been killed it would be a different story, but that wasn't the case. It was a tragedy, well, for one man,” he said.
“I said it on stage that night, when a guy shoots at Trump, the guy behind him gets shot and dies. That's typical of Trump. That's typical of the Trump brand. He's not going to jail. He's not going bankrupt and losing his money. Someone's always got a bullet or a bag,” Maher said.
“But I love that day. I remember flying into Minneapolis because it was a Saturday, and there was a show that night,” Maher recalled. “As soon as our car pulled up to the hotel, before we even had our bags out of our bags, this hotel guy came in and said, 'Trump's been shot!' And I was like, 'What?' And he said, 'Yeah, but I think he's OK!' And he showed me the picture on his phone.”
Maher said he returned to his hotel room, turned on the TV and rewrote his comedy routine two hours before going on stage. The comedian told the Friend that his routine had its origins in earnest because “liberals don't laugh when people get shot.” (RELATED: 'Comrade Kamala Knew It All': Trump Kicks Off Democratic National Convention Rivalry Week)
“And it started off in a serious way,” Maher explained, “saying that as I was introducing the concept, there would be people who would joke or comment about the command, saying, 'It's a shame they missed out.' I'm not. I'm not.”
“This kind of thing shouldn't be funny, it's not right,” Maher said. “And nobody is more against Trump being president than I am, but this kind of thing shouldn't be funny, it's not right. And liberals, even the ones we don't like, don't laugh when people get shot.”
“So I'm glad I voiced my opinion on it and it went viral, which is great. But the other reason I say I'm glad he's safe is because now I can keep making jokes about it. I want to keep making jokes about it and I will keep doing so,” he concluded.
The night Trump was shot, Maher told an audience at his comedy show that “it doesn't matter” who the Democrats nominate. He called Trump “the luckiest motherfucker on the planet.”
