Bill Maher and political commentator Megyn Kelly on his show Friday night sparred over whether there will be denialism in the weeks following Election Day.
“He’ll either say ‘it was rigged’ or ‘it was the most perfect, beautiful election ever,'” Maher said about former President Trump, to which Kelly replied, “That’s true.”
Their back-and-forth comes as Trump and his allies continue to refuse to accept his 2020 election loss, making an issue that could be problematic for Trump a focal point in the closing weeks of the 2024 campaign.
“You’re admitting that, and yet, you’re going to vote for him. We want to know why,” Maher, the host of “Real Time with Bill Maher” asked.
Kelly was quick to go on defense against Democrats.
“Well, don’t think there won’t be denialism if Kamala Harris loses,” Kelly said.
“It won’t be the same,” Maher interjected.
“Ok, but there’s going to be. I mean, they’re already laying the foundation for law fare. We’re going to be stuck in this election one way or another, no matter who wins, for weeks,” Kelly said.
Maher quickly shut down her claim, saying “there’s no evidence of that.”
“Well, there’s no evidence of that. Democrats have never done that. They’ve conceded,” Maher said.
Kelly quickly responded, saying they’d already had this “fight,” alleging that “Hillary Clinton is the original election denier” in reference to recount efforts in 2016.
“She’s not an election denier,” Maher snapped back.
“It’s different grumbling. Yes, they grumble when they shouldn’t and maybe it goes over the line. There’s a difference between grumbling about something and actually trying to overturn it like he did. I mean, you know this. Why do we have to go through this?” Maher said, which was met with applause from the crowd.
“You’re allowed to file legal challenges in response to an election, which is what Trump did, and he lost and he did wind up leaving office. I’m not going to defend his behavior on Jan. 6. I never have and I’m not going to start tonight,” Kelly said.
“But if you don’t think there’s going to be denialism on the Dem side, you haven’t been paying attention to what’s been happening on that side for these years,” she added.
