HBO’s Bill Maher Endorses Bernie Sanders in Interview [Watch]
In a candid interview on "Real Time with Bill Maher" on HBO, the host brought out Bernie Sanders and gave his Presidential campaign for the Democratic nomination quite a boost.
According to Deadline, the host brought the candidate out with just that in mind by starting the interview out with his own wishes for Sanders campaign.
"I want to help your campaign," Maher said as he shook hands with the Vermont senator and greeted him to the show.
But that is not what confirmed his endorsement for Sanders, although it pretty much alluded to the notion. It was what came next for Sanders that officially declared that he had Maher in his corner for the nomination.
"I want to see you get the nomination. I want to see you be president," Maher said.
So after the cat was out of the bag and the two officially had the stage, it was time for Maher to embrace Sanders' stance on issues that plague society today, which includes the gigantic gap in income equality, the concentration of wealth in the upper class and fair pay for women, among other issues. But what they really focused on was the term that has had a cultural taboo in American exceptionalism, which is "socialism."
Maher tried to "undemonize" the term so that his audience could get a better understanding of what Sanders was about. He even went as far as to say that America was already a socialist nation. But Sanders took issue with that.
"No, it's not a socialist country," Sanders said. "There are some socialist programs."
The programs that he refers to are Medicare, Medicaid and other programs that help the needy. But he was quick to point out that the U.S. is the only major nation on Earth that does not guarantee health care as a right.
Although the two agreed on most issues, they did have some points for which they diverged. Maher said the numbers do not add up for funding Sanders' proposed programs and Sanders said they did, because he would make them more cost effective and that he would supplement them by taxing the top 1 percent of wealthy Americans.
See the interview below.
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