On the latest episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the comedian opened his monologue by reflecting on what he called a “very ugly week in America,” following the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk.
Maher thanked the audience for their warm welcome, acknowledging the difficult national moment. “It’s a very ugly week in America with violence of all kinds: political violence, regular violence, people talking about civil war,” he said. He then referenced Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert, who called for a prayer in Congress after Kirk’s death, only to stir chaos with her insistence that “silent prayers get silent results.”
Maher also cracked a grim joke about the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, calling him a “stay-at-home son” and adding, “I’m sure this is not the only thing he does alone.”
Turning to Donald Trump’s response to the tragedy, Maher highlighted the president’s dismissive tone about national unity: “Today, they asked the president, ‘What are you going to do to bring the country together?’ And he said, ‘I know this is going to get me in trouble, but I could care less.’ His message is, ‘Let the healing stop.’”
Later in the show, with guests Charlie Sheen, Ben Shapiro, and Tim Alberta, Maher spoke candidly about the implications of Kirk’s murder. “He was shot under a banner that said, ‘Prove me wrong,’ because he was a debater. Too many people think the way to prove you wrong is to eliminate you from talking altogether. The people who mocked his death or justified it — I think you’re gross. And the people saying now we’re at war — I’ve no use for you.”
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Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was delivering a speech at Utah Valley University when he was shot in the neck. Donald Trump later confirmed his death on Truth Social and announced that Kirk would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
A divisive figure for his outspoken Christian Nationalism and controversial views on civil rights and gun violence, Kirk’s assassination sparked condemnation from political figures across the spectrum, including Barack Obama and Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani. Yet, as Maher noted, some online voices showed little empathy, echoing Kirk’s own dismissal of empathy as “a made-up, new age term.”
The tragedy underscores the rise of political violence in the U.S., following recent high-profile attacks, including the assassination of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, the shooting of a state senator and his wife, and the firebombing of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence.
