“Family Guy” Creator Seth MacFarlane and HBO host Bill Maher argued that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump “is largely a result of a backlash to political correctness” on Friday’s “Real Time.”
Maher began the discussion by stating, “It used to be like you actually had to make a racist joke. Now you just say something to do with race, and some people hiss.” MacFarlane agreed, adding, “there are certain buzzwords that are instantaneous, they give you a knee-jerk reaction these days.”
After the discussion turned to the Oscars diversity controversy, Maher stated, “part of it is, and this is the dirty little secret, is that most movies are made now with an eye to the foreign market, and Asians really are racist. … I’m just honest. But they are. They don’t want to see black people, generally, in their movies. So, that’s — the Hollywood executives are like. ‘We’re not racists. We just have to pretend we’re racist, because we’re capitalists.'”
Maher further on argued, “I know you feel the same way I do, that Donald Trump is largely a result of a backlash to political correctness. Don’t you think?”
MacFarlane agreed, and argued, “since humanity began, we’ve always hungered for a buffoon to lead us. Which I kind of love, but, now it’s particularly bad.”
He continued, “I think the rise of social media and the power that it has has something to do with it. I think that the good part of social media is it gives voice to the voiceless. I think someone like Caitlyn Jenner would not have been as accepted had it not been for social media. So, I think that’s the good part of it. But, you know, when we get on the bandwagon to take down Kim Davis, that is politically correct. That’s a good thing to do, because she’s actively curtailing somebody’s rights. … The flipside of that is Justine Sacco, who was the woman who was on the plane…who tweeted the joke about AIDS in South Africa. Not — maybe a joke — maybe not your cup of tea, maybe not my cup of tea, but she was descended upon by progressive social media, and they ruined her life. She lost her job. She had too move. And we lose a little bit of credibility when we go after the Kim Davises, when that happens, and we say to the conservatives, ‘These people are kind of half-baked.’ So, if — we have to sort of get smart about picking our battles. You know, we — the guy who owns the cake shop must be compelled to sell the cake to the gay wedding. He has to be, because otherwise it’s a short hop to ‘I don’t want such and such in my diner.’ But we are trying to get him to like it.”
MacFarlane concluded, “you go after your racist uncle, and the harder you go after him, the more he retreats. And I think that’s what’s — there’s some of that in play.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett