In a discussion with radio personality and podcaster Charlamagne Tha God, HBO host Bill Maher disagreed with clams that black people must be “five times better” than white people to get ahead in America, and called the concept a “zombie Lie.”
On Maher’s Real Time show, Charlamagne, whose real name is Lenard Larry McKelvey, was discussing Joe Biden’s recent pandering to black people delivered during his commencement address at Morehouse college where he said that America “doesn’t love” black men “in equal measure” and that blacks have to be “ten times as good to get a fair shot in America.”
Maher, though, found Biden’s claims to be ridiculous.
The HBO host quoted John McWhorter who said that talk like that belongs back in the 1970s and the claim that black people have to be “ten times better” is “simply not true anymore, and we should celebrate that.”
Maher then asked Charlamagne if he agrees with McWhorter’s statement.
“I don’t know if it’s ten times better, but maybe five,” the commentator told Maher.
Maher was incredulous, and replied, “Come on. You think you have to be five times?”
“Yeah. When you, when you black in America, absolutely,” Charlamagne replied.
“In 2024?” Maher asked, still not believing his ears.
Bill Maher visibly disappointed by Charlamagne's answer that you have to be 5x better as a black person in America in 2024:
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) June 15, 2024
BM: "I think that's a zombie lie."
CTG: "Why?"
BM: "Because that's not America anymore."
If you think you're 5x better than someone, that would make you a… pic.twitter.com/MWXl7alRuU
The podcaster was absolutely serious, though. “Yeah. When you’re black in America, when you’re a woman in America, if you’re a black woman in America? Absolutely.” he exclaimed.
But Maher disagreed, adding, “I think that’s a zombie lie,” or a lie that lives on despite being long dead.
“I just don’t think that’s America anymore,” Maher said.
Maher has increasingly turned against the far-left narrative over the last few years. He even addressed his apparent “turn” and said that he isn’t turning conservative because he is getting old. It’s just that the left’s ideas are getting stupid.
“I haven’t turned,” he said in May. “Yes, people have said to me, you make fun of the left more than you used to, and guilty. I have because the left has changed. Now, the right has changed also, and even worse. I mean, the right doesn’t believe in democracy anymore. I mean, they’ve thrown their lot in with the sociopath named Donald Trump, who only thinks elections count when we win. OK, well, that’s worse.”
“But it’s not like the left hasn’t changed also,” Maher continued. “So, I’m going to call it out wherever I see it. I mean, there are things that have to do with, you know, gender and race and free speech, and just ideas about, you know, you can be healthy at any weight, and gender is always a social construct and maybe we should give communism another try, and maybe we should get rid of capitalism and the Border Patrol. And let’s tear down statues of Lincoln and get rid of the police. Just, you know, know, no. It’s not that I’ve gotten old, it’s that your ideas are stupid. OK. Common sense is common sense, and I’m going to call it out whatever it is on the spectrum.”
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