Bill Maher Slams Harvard, UPenn For Siding With Hamas

During a recent discussion with FIRE CEO Greg Lukianoff, comedian and host Bill Maher went after Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania for supporting Hamas and enabling anti-semitism on their campuses.

Bill Maher declares Harvard, UPenn 'Team Hamas,’ derides ‘idiot’ students who are attacking Israel https://t.co/gTlkuwtO8t

— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 9, 2023

His remarks come as Harvard President Claudine Gay and UPenn President Liz Magill continue to suffer backlash for the disastrous remarks they made at a Congressional hearing on anti-Semitism alongside MIT President Sally Kornbluth.

Maher started the conversation by pointing to FIRE’s ranking of colleges when it comes to free speech, which had Harvard and UPenn at the bottom of a list of about 250 universities,

So these are two of the colleges who are now on Team Hamas. Is that a coincidence? Or what is the connection?” he wondered.

Going over slogans used at pro-Palestinian rallies on college campuses, Maher tried to excuse the word “intifada,” saying it is a “vague” term like “jihad” even though “it probably means violence.”

As for the phrase, “From the river to the sea,” he called it “a little more genocide-y.” However, he still tried to excuse it, saying, “But, you know, let’s give the benefit of the doubt- that could be ‘Well, we just want the Jews to move and not die.’”

When he got to the phrase, “by any means necessary,” he had no defense. “Ok, now I’m kinda peeing my pants,” he said, agreeing that it is a dangerous saying.

While Lukianoff agreed that the term “intifada” is “absolutely protected” speech, he also added that it can fall under harassment or threats, a fact the three embattled university presidents failed to admit during last week Tuesday’s hearing.

“It was kind of embarrassing to watch these university presidents of the top institutions in the country not being able to answer that clearly,” Lukianoff stated.

While Maher emphasized that his support for freedom of speech, he slammed the double standard, saying, “What irks me is that look, I’m always going to be on the side ‘as far as you can push free speech.’ What bothers me is the double standard… Say they don’t want to say ‘Kill the Jews,’ but I certainly have heard chanted ‘F— the Jews, f— the Jews.’ I cannot think of any other group that you can say ‘f— the blank’ and have it be acceptable.”

The comedian went on to slam the institutions for raising what he refers to as “a bunch of f—ing idiots.”