Cleese: Political Correctness ‘Condescending’

Famed comedian John Cleese argued that political correctness was “condescending,” and seemed to suggest that fear of physical retaliation makes people afraid to criticize or joke about radical Islam on Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

The two discussed political correctness, which both Cleese and Maher expressed their disdain for, with Cleese saying political correctness “starts out as a halfway decent idea and then it goes completely wrong.” And pointing out the “condescending” double standard of protecting only a few select groups from ridicule.

When Cleese asked for another example of a group that was considered wrong to make fun of, Maher instantly responded “Muslims. Try that, see what your Twitter feed says.” Cleese responded “that’s not saying that you can’t, it just means that they’ll kill you.”

Cleese then declared “the problem is if you make jokes about people who are going to kill you, there is a sort of a tendency to hold back a little. Isn’t there?”

Follow Ian Hanchett @IanHanchett