“Real Time” host Bill Maher pushed back on “The View” co-host Ana Navarro during his show on Friday, who suggested they stop calling young anti-Israel protesters “dumb” and figure out a way to engage with them.
“I don’t tell them they’re dumb. They’re not dumb, they’re ignorant,” Maher said. “There’s a difference.”
Maher, joined by Navarro, Joel Stein and Charlamagne tha God for the “Overtime” segment of his show, discussed the ongoing protests—which have disrupted college graduations and speeches by President Biden and Vice President Harris—as demonstrators continue to protest the Israel-Hamas war.
The comedian said calling a person stupid was wrong because it can’t be helped, adding, “ignorant just means you don’t know something.”
Bill Maher talks about his new book on “The Tonight Show.” (NBC/Screenshot)
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“But calling them ignorant would be a terrible electoral strategy,” Charlamagne tha God argued. Maher agreed, arguing that their ignorance was not their fault.
“They let them out of school that way. The ignorance is a part of the people, the adults and the educators, who don’t do their job anymore. They let you out of school, they will sign that diploma and you don’t know a f—— thing,” he said. “Certainly not about this issue.”
Navarro agreed and said the issue was “incredibly complicated,” as Charlamagne argued that people should find a way to talk about matters without alienating young people.
“Dismissing all those young folks is not going to help in November, and when you look at what’s going on in Michigan when you have a bunch of voters voting non-committed, I don’t know how they’re going to flip that switch come November,” he said.
Charlamagne tha God onstage during the 2023 HOPE Global Forum at Hyatt Regency Atlanta on December 11, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Derek White/Getty Images)
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Navarro warned Democrats needed to figure out a way to flip the switch, arguing that presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump would turn Gaza into a parking lot if he wins in November.
“It’s got to also work both ways. The young people have to listen to people who are older than them and not just say ‘I don’t agree with you, you’re old, you’re just saying get off my lawn,'” Maher said. “Engage with the idea, and then I will respect you. Engage with the idea.”
Maher also asked his panel on Friday why antisemitism on the Left wasn’t a bigger deal.
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“I got a question. How come it’s okay for the left to hate the Jews?” Maher asked. “Because, obviously, if this was the people at Charlottesville doing this, wouldn’t there be a bigger outcry?”
He argued there was no widespread condemnation like there was with the far-right rallies in Charlottesville in 2017.
“If the people in Charlottesville who were chanting ‘Jews won’t replace us,’ I mean, that’s bad. It’s not as bad as ‘Death to.’ That’s not deplorable?” Maher said.
“It’s absolutely terrible,” Navarro responded.
