HBO's "Real Time" host Bill Maher attacked the liberals who have been trashing actress Cheryl Hines for sticking by her husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following his endorsement of former President Trump last month.
"Going after the wife? Even the mafia doesn’t do that," Maher commented during the latest episode of his HBO talk show.
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Hines, one of the co-stars of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," faced a torrent of criticism after sharing an X post on August 23 expressing support for Kennedy and his campaign team following their decision. In part, the statement read, "The decision has been made to suspend my husband's, Robert Kennedy Jr.'s, presidency and I'd like to extend a sincere, deeply heartfelt thank you to every person who has worked so tirelessly and lovingly on his campaign."
Hines’ statement seemed conciliatory considering the actress is not a fan of Trump. Several days after she posted it, Kennedy told TMZ that his wife stood by his decision despite not wanting to.
"This is the opposite of what she would want to do," he told the outlet, adding, "She went along with it because she loves me and she wanted to be supportive of me, but it was not something that she ever encouraged, I would say."
In addition to millions of views, Hines’ post amassed angry responses from leftists disturbed that she did not publicly trash her husband for the Trump endorsement.
Maher went after these disgruntled social media users Friday night, calling them bullies and saying they’ve revealed an "ugliness" to liberals he hasn’t seen before.
Maher began by describing how fondly Hines is thought of in Hollywood. He quoted "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator and star Larry David, who said she is "the best person I’ve ever met. The one person in Hollywood who doesn’t have a single enemy."
The host then commented, "Well, now she does, because she didn’t throw her husband under the bus when her husband made a decision about something which she’s made plain she disagrees with."
"But that didn’t satisfy the obnoxious posers on the aforementioned far left," he added, and then read aloud some the posts ripping Hines, including one from "West Wing" actor Bradley Whitford.
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The day after Kennedy endorsed Trump, Whitford attacked Hines on X, stating, "Hey @CherylHines, way to stay silent while your lunatic husband throws his support behind the adjudicated rapist who brags about stripping women of their fundamental rights. Gutsy. Great example for the kids. Profile in courage."
The "Real Time" host grilled Whitford. "You know what I think is not gutsy? Mansplaining to a woman – but of course not to her face – how she should sacrifice her marriage all so you could read something on Twitter that met with your approval."
Ripping these reactions in general, he continued, "You wanna know why I have a bug up my a-- about the left more than I used to? It’s s--- like this. There’s an ugliness they never used to have. The liberals I grew up respecting, none of them were like this."
Elsewhere, he added, "There’s a lot of people these days who I call liberals in theory. In theory, they hate bullying. Terrible. In practice, their attitude is, it’s not bullying if I stick your head in the toilet."
Sticking it to Whitford once more, the comedian said, "In theory, liberals are compassionate. In practice, this guy can’t even understand one of the most basic dilemmas common to all humans: that when you’re married, sometimes you have to swallow some s---."
