On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that Democrats should make Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s religion an issue, and instead of the court being “packed, with Catholics” there should be a “healthier balance” of religious beliefs on the court.
Maher said, “Democrats have to stop talking about packing the Supreme Court. Because it’s already packed, with Catholics…and once Mitch McConnell and company are done Fed-Exing Amy Coney Barrett to the bench, seven of the nine justices will be Catholic. And look, I have nothing against Catholics, except my entire upbringing. But they are only 20% of the population. If seven out of nine justices were Jews or Muslims or Buddhists would that be okay? And if faith is this super important element of life, as Barrett and her Republican supporters say it is, shouldn’t we have a healthier balance on our highest court?”
After stating people who don’t practice any religion should have representation on the Supreme Court, Maher stated, “And atheists actually make better judges. Because we don’t have to work to separate church and state. We’re not torn between rational decision-making and what it says in the old book of Jewish fairy tales.”
Maher later stated that the “vast majority” of American Catholics are “not scary.” But there is a group that longs “for a return to the Middle Ages, when the church was the state.”
He concluded, “Chuck Schumer said Democrats won’t make Barrett’s religion an issue, but they should. Because being nuts is relevant.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett