Maher: ‘You’re Not Better’ Than Jefferson or Grant, ‘You Just Came Later’

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that we should “live in the present and make the future better.” Maher supported removing Confederate statues, and blasted those who are demanding the removal of statues of people like Ulysses S. Grant by stating that those demanding the removal of Grant statues would have supported slavery if they lived when he did.

Maher said, “Here’s a crazy idea: Let’s live in the present and make the future better. Of course tear down statues of Confederate traitors. But in San Francisco, protesters tore down one of Grant. Because Grant was once gifted a slave, who he then freed. OK, not a perfect score, but Grant was the guy who kicked the asses of the other statues you’ve been tearing down, you know, while they were alive and could fight back, a little braver I’d say.”

After talking about other pushes to remove statues of Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson, Maher said that if being a product of your time isn’t an excuse, people will have to cancel God because of verses in the Bible about slavery. He further stated, “[T]his is how slavery was back then. They didn’t see it as a problem. Because no one did. And if you had been back there, you wouldn’t have either. You’re not better than Jesus or Ulysses S. Grant. You just came later.”

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