Bill Maher Issues Surprising Response to Donald Trump’s Pearl Harbor Joke
What To Know
- Bill Maher criticized Donald Trump offered a surprising defense regarding Trump’s Pearl Harbor joke to Japan’s Prime Minister.
- Maher acknowledged that while the joke was inappropriate, he argued that it would be considered funny if delivered by a comedian like Shane Gillis.
- Trump made the controversial remark during a White House meeting, referencing Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor when asked about not informing allies of a U.S. strike on Iran.
Bill Maher issued a surprising response to President Donald Trump’s recent Pearl Harbor joke to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
On the Friday, March 20 episode of Real Time Wth Bill Maher, the late-night host, 70, criticized Trump, 79, for skyrocketing gas prices and greenlighting a $1 coin with his face on it. However, he agreed with the POTUS about something that might surprise fans.
Speaking of Trump, Maher prefaced his point by saying, “Now, you know my thing with Trump, right? The cloud. Some things are just the cloud. You have to let it go because, is it right? No.”
He continued, “But he was in the Oval Office yesterday with the Prime Minister of Japan, Takahichi. And he was talking about our strike in Iran, and he said, ‘We didn’t tell anybody because we wanted it to be a surprise. Who knows better about a surprise attack than Japan?'”
That’s when Maher defended Trump by pointing out, “Is it right to say that? No, but if Shane Gillis said it, you’d laugh.”
The Pearl Harbor comment happened during Takaichi’s Oval Office visit at the White House on March 19. When a reporter asked why the U.S. didn’t tell Japan or other allies about the strike on Iran before it happened, Trump replied, “We went in very hard, and we didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise,” per NBC News. “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? OK, why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”
The POTUS added, “You believe in surprise, I think, much more than us,” in reference to Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 1941. The historic event prompted the U.S. to formally enter World War II. More than 2,400 Americans died during the attack on Pearl Harbor, including civilians, with another 1,000 wounded.
Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays at 10/9c, HBO
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