Political comedian Bill Maher used to host a show called Politically Incorrect back in the day, and the outspoken comic is often shunted away by both parties for his caustic comedy — as evidenced in a tweet tonight that managed to, in 140 characters, rag on both Hamas and the laydees.
Bill Maher’s Twitter feed is generally somewhat of an extension of his show and the tone is certainly in line with his humor. And on Twitter tonight, Maher (who is not unafraid of misogynistic humor) tweeted that dealing with Hamas is not unlike dealing with an emotional female, quipping:
Dealing w/ Hamas is like dealing w/ a crazy woman who’s trying to kill u – u can only hold her wrists so long before you have to slap her
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) July 18, 2014
At least one outlet described Maher as “far left” in the reporting of the inevitable backlash, but the humor was not in line with liberal lockstep on two fronts — absolving force in Israel and joking about hitting women. (Last week on his show, Maher also called out unfailing Obama supporters for not criticizing the President enough, irritating many progressives.)
Maher’s tweet comes at the start of a new ground offensive by Israel, and by and large, the Hamas bit was not nearly as controversial as the joke at the expense of women, for which the comic took a bit of Twitter heat.
Of course, that’s not new to Maher… who still refers to himself as the only person who lost their job over 9/11 as he was fired for a joke he made on his show about the attack. (And then hired by HBO to host the very successful Real Time With Bill Maher .)
Already, several outlets have written about Maher’s tweet, but over on Twitter, nearly all replies to the tweet have been angry, violent, vulgar, hateful, or all of the above:
@billmaher You’re a misogynist piece of shit. — Hart Noecker (@HartNoecker) July 18, 2014
@billmaher Great metaphor, dunce.
— Kay Hanley (@kayhanley) July 18, 2014
@billmaher what the…??? — Tom Burke (@TheTomBurkeShow) July 18, 2014
@billmaher Bill. no.
— ECHOpedia™ (@ECHOisthename) July 18, 2014
People interpreted the tweet as tantamount to green-lighting physically hurting a woman, and responded:
@billmaher You should never advocate hitting a woman. What kind of an arsehole are you? #USpoli — Rock Solid Politics (@BradCabana) July 18, 2014
@billmaher you are disgusting.
— Oshún (@thecityofjules) July 18, 2014
@ryanhoover Yep. Just unfollowed for that one. Too much for me. @billmaher — Lauren the SuperCunt (@AtheistLauren) July 18, 2014
You are subhuman garbage, as are your fans. @billmaher
— Dongo Huber (@dongohuber) July 18, 2014
There is always that one dude who holds it together though:
I disagree with @billmaher on this tweet.
— Robert DarthKnight (@Liberty_2112) July 18, 2014
Earlier, Maher had tweeted:
One thing you never hear in the middle east: I just can’t stay mad at you
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) July 17, 2014
What do you think of Bill Maher’s tweet about Hamas? Edgily funny, or… well, too politically incorrect?