Bill Maher took aim at American Sniper subject Chris Kyle Friday night on HBO’s Real Time, describing him as a “psychopath.”
During a panel discussion with comedian Bill Burr, former DNC Chairman Howard Dean, author Bret Stephens, and Washington Post reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, the conversation shifted from “deflategate” to the late Chris Kyle.
“Hurt Locker made $17 million because it was a little ambiguous and thoughtful, and this one was just ‘American hero. He’s a psychopath patriot, and we love him,’” Maher said.
“Eisenhower once said, ‘I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can.’ I just don’t see this guy in the same league as Eisenhower. I’m sorry,” the host continued. He went on to read quotes from Kyle’s book, using out-of-context remarks to make his case.
In a mocking southern drawl, Maher then said, “If you’re a Christian…I know this is a Christian country: ‘I hate the damn savages. I don’t give a f–k what happens to them’ doesn’t seem like a Christian thing to say.”
Although Dean asserted that many of those who went to see the film are likely “angry” people associated with the Tea Party, the panel’s guests mostly pushed back, particularly Bill Burr. “If you’re fighting a war, I bet you say a lot of fu–ed up s–t in the middle of it,” Burr said. “You’ve been through a war.”
Maher also criticized the United States Navy’s latest television ad, one that features Breitbart News writer Kelli Serio, for its use of the new slogan “To get to you, they’d have to get past us.”
“Who is ‘they’ that the Navy is guarding us from?” Maher asked.
Watch the entire exchange from Friday’s Real Time with Bill Maher below: