Bill Maher Blasts Donald Trump’s Cabinet Picks & ‘Despicable’ Matt Gaetz

Before heading off for Real Time’s holiday hiatus — during which he’s vowing not to weigh in on anything — Bill Maher weighed in on President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks.

“The Republicans, man, when they take power, they grab it by the p****. They don’t f*** around,” Maher said in the HBO show’s Season 22 finale on November 22. “They’re not even in charge yet. They just won the election. Already, big changes in the House. They elected the first transgender person to the House, so immediately the Republicans have now banned her from being able to go to the restroom.”

Sarcastically, Maher added, “Yeah, thank God the adults are back in charge.”

The TV pundit got into Trump’s cabinet selections, starting with Matt Gaetz, Trump’s original pick for attorney general. “Matt Gaetz, who was put up to be attorney general, has withdrawn. He’s out. The Republicans said, ‘Yes, too despicable, even for us,’ which I respect,” Maher said. “Matt had a unique reason for withdrawing … he said he wants to spend more time with other people’s children. Matt has been under federal investigation. He was not charged and denies all the allegations … but they did involve a 17-year-old. In his defense, her shopping bag did say Forever 21.”

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Then Maher turned his attention to former Fox & Friends co-host Pete Hegseth, whom Trump tapped to be secretary of defense. “He was accused — again, just accused — of having, she says, nonconsensual sexual relations,” Maher said. “He says consensual. So again, we don’t know. You weren’t there. I wasn’t there. We don’t know. But it does raise the question: Has anyone ever had sex with someone from Fox News and liked it?”

Maher also mentioned how Linda McMahon, Trump’s education secretary pick, is named in a lawsuit for allegedly failing to stop sexual abuse in World Wrestling Entertainment, and that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick for secretary of health and human services, was accused of groping a woman who worked for his family as a babysitter.

“I’m not saying this crew will not be good at their jobs, but they will be the first cabinet that’s asked to stay [outside] 500 feet of a school,” Maher quipped. “You know that useless sexual harassment seminar that we all have to do at work? We finally found an office that needs it.”

Real Time With Bill Maher, Season 23 Premiere, Friday, January 17, 2025, 10/9c, HBO