"Real Time" host Bill Maher took aim at former President Trump and Republicans for their dramatic shift on abortion as the 2024 election steadily approaches.
Maher kicked off the panel discussion on the Arizona Supreme Court's landmark ruling upholding a near-total abortion ban in the state, a direct result of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which Trump has repeatedly taken credit for.
He told the panel that Republicans are "the dog who caught the car."
"For 50 years, they talked about getting rid of abortion. They did it and it's super unpopular, and now they have to basically lie," Maher said Friday night. "I mean, Trump — some of his statements on this — it sounds like what he said about healthcare: ‘Make both sides happy… 15 weeks seems to be a number people can agree.’ Can he lie his way out of this?"
After insisting Arizona will "definitely be in play" for Democrats and that the election will be a battle of "immigration versus abortion," the HBO host poked a hole in the conservative right's evolving abortion argument.
"A lot of people think it's murder. That's why I don't understand the 15-week thing, or Trump's plan is, 'Let's leave it to the states.' You mean, so killing babies is OK in some states?" Maher asked. "I can respect the absolutist position. I really can. I scold the left when they say, ‘Oh, you know what, they just hate women, people who aren’t pro-choice.' They don't hate women. They just made that up."
He continued: "They think it's murder and it kind of is. I'm just OK with that. I am. I mean, there's 8 billion people in the world. I'm sorry, we won't miss you. That's my position on it."
After an uncomfortable silence from the panel and his audience, Maher doubled down: "Is that not your position when you're pro-choice?!"
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British TV personality Piers Morgan, who is pro-choice, conceded that he agrees with Maher's blunt description of their position and called out Trump for his "complete U-turn" on the issue for "political reasons."
"He did it in 2016 to get the Evangelicals with him. He said, 'I'm gonna pack the court, I'm gonna get this done and overturn Roe v. Wade.' So they all came with him, and I think now he thinks he's got them," Morgan told Maher. "I don't support what he's doing, but I do understand the political reasons he's doing it, and I think he could be quite effective actually in neutralizing what is becoming a massive banana skin for the party. And I think that's what he's recognized and he's getting ahead of it. I think it could work for him."
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Earlier in the week, Trump released a statement declaring that abortion should be left to the states.
"… the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state," Trump said. "Many states will be different. Many states will have a different number of weeks… at the end of the day, it is all about the will of the people."
