Bill Maher’s anti-George Zimmerman jokes received a round of boos last night on the Late Show with David Letterman .
Maher, the host of HBO’s Real Time , was in New York City to attend the MLB All-Star Game and guested on Dave’s show.
Letterman brought up Maher’s ownership interest in the New York Mets, who were hosting the All-Star Game at Citi Field. Maher noted that he was a minority owner, i.e., he only owns a small piece of the franchise. Letterman then joked that being a minority owner at least qualifies Maher for free tickets.
Maher responded “Better than being a minority in Florida,” which prompted the audience to start booing. A surprised Maher wondered out loud “why are they booing?”
Later in the interview, Maher returned to George Zimmerman. “You know that they want to give George Zimmerman a gun now? The Florida state law is that he can get his gun back. I say if he gets a gun, Casey Anthony gets a baby.” The audience launched into more boos as Letterman looked at his watch as if signaling Maher to change the subject. “What is with the booing tonight?” Maher asked again. See embed below.
The show was taped before the All-Star Game started, so Maher talked about seeing the Home Run Derby in person: “It was great watching these roided-up monsters hit it into row triple z, and the Levitra sign lights up,” he quipped.
As virtually everyone across the country (and the world perhaps) knows, George Zimmerman, 29, a former neighborhood watch captain, was put on trial for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, 17, on February 26, 2012, after confronting the teenager as he walked back to the house where he was staying in a gated community in Sanford. Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, entered a plea of not guilty on self-defense grounds and went on trial in a Seminole County courtroom starting on June 24. After about 16 hours of deliberation, the six-person, all-female jury Saturday night found him not guilty of both second degree murder and manslaughter.
Are you surprised that the audience let loose with a chorus of boos over Bill Maher’s anti-George Zimmerman jokes?