"Real Time" host Bill Maher said that the Democratic Party should push President Joe Biden to the side in favor of a longshot popular alternative while also suggesting that Democrats' potential options for 2024 are limited.
"Democrats must thank President Biden for his great service to America and then move him into a more ceremonial role," Maher said during his Friday night monologue. "Joe Biden has been president now for a year and a day. The day was pretty good, but the year? Not horrible, certainly better than the alternative, but for some reason, America has lost its faith in Joe. Sometimes that just happens."
Maher evidenced Biden's lack of trust among the American people by citing a couple recent polls, with one showing that only 26 percent of respondents believe "things in the country are going well" and another finding that Biden's approval rating is at an abysmal 33 percent.
"If he were a movie, he'd be certified rotten," Maher explained. "And of course, he's not. And what's gone wrong is certainly not all Joe's fault. But the hard fact is even when Joe does something good, he seems to get no credit. Our economy is actually pretty awesome considering what we've just been through. Wages are up, workers have more leverage, we avoided a recession, stocks just had their best year since 1995 and yet only 38 percent approve of his handling of the economy. This is what happens when you lack passionate defenders – as opposed to Trump, who everyday s--t the bed and 95 percent of Republicans blame the bed."
He also suggested that Biden's already falling approval numbers could continue to drop because there is "no diehard Biden base" and noted that a "coalition of the unenthused" voted for him in 2020.
"When he first got into office, I told you that Biden was like non-dairy creamer; nobody's first choice but he got the job done," Maher said. "And he did get the job done in 2020 when his nation needed him to beat Trump and he did! But fair or not, to most people now, it looks like Joe Biden's 'Get up and go' got up and went."
The HBO host continued by pointing out that the Democrats do not have any fresh legs primed for a 2024 White House run, as evidenced by Hillary Clinton's name being floated around as the party's potential nominee should Biden elect against a reelection bid.
"There's no big d--k energy coming out of the Democratic Party. And their bench is so thin, they're even talking about running Hillary again! And I'm sure she's thinking, 'Well, who else you got?' Kamala? Her approval rating is lower than Biden's! Bernie's too old, Pete's too young and this didn't work out," Maher said, showing a picture of disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Maher then said that there is "one guy all Democrats can rally behind and would love to see back in the White House," referring to former President Barack Obama.
"Of course, you're saying 'But Obama can't be president again. He's had two terms and that's the rule.' Yeah, the rule… You know politics, often called the 'art of the possible,' really is now become the 'art of whatever you can get away with,' something only Republicans seem to realize," Maher said.
"Like when they just made up that presidents can't appoint a Supreme Court justice in an election year," he continued. "Or when they changed their mind and said, "Oh wait, they can when our side is in power. To them, hypocrisy is not a bug. It's a feature… That's the essence of Trumpism. You wanna see my tax returns? Show me where that's written down. You want me to concede when I lose? That's just a tradition."
The comedian recalled the 1976 Disney film, "Gus," where a donkey joins a football team because of its skill in kicking field goals and is allowed to play only because "there was nothing specifically in the rule book that said a team couldn't sign and play a mule," adding that Trump "pulled a 'Gus' every day when he was in the White House."
Biden and Obama must divorce their wives, not leave them, just "legally" divorce them, and then Biden will gay marry Obama, thereby putting him back in the White House. Yes, the law says Obama can't be president, but there's nothing that says he can't be First Lady. pic.twitter.com/xqU2sRoOwe
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) January 22, 2022
Maher went on to say that Democrats should pull "their version of a 'Gus,'" before proposing that Biden and Obama "divorce their wives" and that they then "gay-marry" in order to get the 44th president back in the White House.
He noted that Obama is legally prohibited from becoming president again but that "there's nothing that says he can't be first lady."
"If Obama was back as Biden's husband the Democratic Party would get its mojo back and we'd have confidence that the person really running this show was the person we really want running the show. And Biden, of course, would still have value, like that extra pope they keep in Rome," Maher said. "Historians say that when Woodrow Wilson had a stroke, his wife Edith secretly ran the country for a year and a half."
"Can Democrats do it again? Say with me: Yes, we can! Except this time, do it proudly with that smug Mitch McConnell look on your face like, 'Yeah, we know that's wrong and never been done, but that's all secondary to f---ing you and loving it," he continued. "Don't whine that, 'Oh, but Biden and Obama aren't really gay.' Yes, that's the whole point! Although, if the two of them ever did have a slow dance while Beyonce serenaded them with 'At Last,' I'm sure MSNBC would explode into rainbows."
Maher then highlighted that the first lady typically works on a "pet project she feels passionate about."
"Laura Bush had literacy and Michelle Obama has fitness and Melania had anti-bullying, really," he said. "Obama will be no different, it's just that his first lady project is running the federal government."