Bill Maher got straight to the big news of the week during the latest episode of HBO’s Real Time: “The first real, true big scandal of the Trump administration.”
The host kicked off the show, mocking the scandal, which saw the highest-ranking national security officials inadvertently add the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine to a Signal group text chain in which leaders discussed plans for an airstrike in Yemen.
“The entire national security team was on a group chat,” Maher told the audience during his opening monologue. “You know, the Houthis in Yemen have been attacking the shipping lanes, so maybe they do need a good bombing. So the entire national security team, I’m talking about the secretary of defense, the vice president, the head of the CIA, Department of Homeland Security, all these people are on this group chat on Signal, which is safer than a normal [messaging service], but I have it. It’s not like it’s super secure.”
“So they’re on this group chat, the defense team, and they loop in a reporter who they say was in some guy’s contact list,” the comedian continued before quipping, “So today, every teenager in America is saying, ‘And you’re worried about our screen time?’”
Maher went on to tease the national security leaders for handling highly classified information so casually and loosely over text.
“Again, this is our defense team, the national security people, the adults, and they’re all using emojis. You know, flames and biceps and fist bumps,” he said. “What were they gonna do if the mission failed? Poop emoji, facepalm [emoji].”
“Yes, thank God we got rid of Sleepy Joe [Biden] and the adults are back in charge,” the host joked. “Mr. Vice President, you’re gonna want to see this. It’s a picture of my dick.”
Maher then shared in reaction to President Donald Trump later claiming the information on the Signal text chain “was nothing classified” and “weren’t war plans, they were attack plans.”
“Bitch, please,” Maher said in response. “Come on, man. Nobody has been fired over this, and every D-lister in Hollywood is like, ‘Where was this mercy when I was on The Apprentice?’”
Days after the leak was revealed, The Atlantic released the text messages that included the attack plans on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The guests featured on the latest episode of Real Time were California Gov. Gavin Newsom, American linguist John McWhorter and political commentator Rikki Schlott.
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