Bill Maher mocks
“Real Time” host Bill Maher on Friday applauded the Supreme Court for overturning most of the “emergency” tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, while criticizing Trump for his aggressive reaction to the ruling.
“The Supreme Court said they struck down his request to have emergency powers to impose tariffs,” Maher said during his opening monologue. “They said ‘yes’ to almost everything I wanted to do, but here they finally said, ‘You know what? Don’t fuck with money.’ Trump took it very well.”
He continued: “I’m joking, of course. He went crazy about it… that it was a ‘disgrace’ and ‘these damn courts.'” He’s quite a Karen. I mean, everything he does, everything is always, ‘I want to talk to the coach.’ And the Supreme Court said, ‘We are the administrator.'”
The Supreme Court upheld an essential separation of powers with Friday’s extraordinary 6-3 decision, ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the president to impose tariffs even though Trump invokes that same law to do so.
The president attacked the ruling with his characteristic harshness, calling the judges who ruled against him a “disgrace to our nation” during a press conference on Friday and reportedly ranting privately about “these damn courts.”
“So after this whole year of tariffs that we’ve been going through, have you been thinking, ‘Why didn’t other presidents think about doing this and not trusting Congress when their Constitution says they have to?'” Maher said Friday. “They did think about it; they thought it was illegal, so they didn’t do it.”
While the auction drew applause, other experts warned that Trump will find other ways to impose his tariffs. He suggested it in November and on Friday announced a global tariff of 10%, before increasing it to 15% on Saturday.
“Now, the president says there are other ways to get what he wants with tariffs,” Maher said. “I don’t know what they are, but if you’ve ever been to Washington, D.C., and seen that majestic Supreme Court building, it’s going to be a beautiful ballroom.”
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On Friday, Maher also mentioned the president’s apparent shock at Maher’s continued criticism of him after they met privately for dinner last year.
“So he got angry and said the dinner we had was a ‘waste of time,’” Maher said. “Well, I didn’t think he was, and that I’m an ‘asshole’ and that I’m a low-rated ‘lightweight’ and all that shit, because I never stopped criticizing him. I never said I would! I know how women feel now: A man invites you to dinner and then expects you to get mad.”