"Real Time" host Bill Maher slammed progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for her scheduled response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, arguing that a member of the president's party giving a rebuttal does more harm than good.
Tlaib announced earlier this week that she would be delivering the Working Families Party response to Biden's March 1 speech. Traditionally, the party that controls the White House does not give a rebuttal.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) will give the Republicans' rebuttal to Biden's address.
"Now, I've always seen the opposition party give a rebuttal," Maher said Friday during a panel discussion. "This is from the same party. This is like sacking your own quarterback. I don't know, maybe she's gonna say some nice things about Joe, but basically, it's to present- … bad idea for the Democrats?"
Chloé Vandary, the founder of Theory of Enchantment, came to Tlaib's defense, saying, "I don't know if it's a bad idea."
She explained that, while Democrats would like to exhibit a "unified front," it's still a good idea to "hold their party's feet to the fire." But she did also warn that such a move could "backfire."
Maher then responded, noting that he remembers Tlaib as "very us versus them."
"I remember because she's one of the Squad members," he said. "And I remember we talked about on this show one night BDS, which is the boycott that some people want to do against Israel, because Israel somehow got to be the Nazis. … And I said no- that BDS is a bunch of bulls---."
"And then Rashida Tlaib called for me to be boycotted, so was saying we shouldn't boycott and then her answer was, 'We're gonna boycott you.' … So when people say, 'You know, why are you so hard on the left these days?' Bulls--- like that is why. We have a different opinion about this issue called BDS and you want to just boycott me," Maher continued, referring to a time in 2019 when he and the congresswoman were at odds.
New York Times columnist Bret Stephens chimed in, saying, "That's the difference between the Democratic and the Republican Party, which is the Democrats are hostage to their crazy minority, and the Republicans are hostage to their crazy majority."