On Friday night, Bill Maher tore into the liberal media for their apocalyptic coverage of the Wuhan coronavirus. The HBO host believes all the doom-and-gloom headlines are making Trump the optimist, and optimists, Maher warns his fellow liberals, "tend to win American elections." The comedian cited the campaigns of FDR and even Obama who ran and won on messages of hope.
"Enough with the life-will-never-be-the-same headlines," Maher implored the liberal media. "Last month, The Washington Post ran the headline 'It Feels Like a Warzone' with this picture." The picture shows a grocery store worker restocking eggs. "This is not a warzone. This is a man with a box of eggs. And I've never seen a warzone with this much bacon."
Maher said the media is obsessed with making comparisons to the apocalypse, even when the news is a reason for hope.
A New York Times' headline managed to use the word "apocalyptic" when reporting that hospitalizations in New York were actually better than originally expected. "Braced for Apocalyptic Surge, New York Avoids Worst, So Far," the headline reads.
"Two weeks ago, Inside Edition said '76,000 in the world had died so some are making comparisons to the apocalypse.' The apocalypse, really?" Maher asked incredulously. "'Cause most of us are sitting at home smoking delivery weed and binge-watching a show about a gay zookeeper."
"How about this," Maher proposed, "just tell me 'millions are out of work' without the flashlight under the chin, and I will decide how I feel about it."
Maher said the media is also obsessed with finding young people who died from the Wuhan coronavirus.
"The Washington Post says there's 759 under 50 years old. Horrible, of course," Maher acknowledged. "Then I looked up how many under 50 died of the flu last year. Almost 3,000. So all this misery from distancing did some good. Can I be happy about that?"
While death is terrible no matter how it happens, Maher said it's important for the media to give the proper perspective. "50,000 die of nephritis every year, and I don't even know what that is," said Maher.
Last Friday, the comedian criticized social justice warriors for giving a pass to China by calling people "racist" for pointing out that the Wuhan coronavirus originated from that country. Maybe isolation is helping Maher overcome his Trump Derangement Syndrome.
"We need the news to calm down and treat us like adults," Maher said, as he ended his show on Friday. "Trump calls you fake news. Don't make him be right."
We need the news to calm down and treat us like adults. Trump calls you #fakenews. Don't make him right. #Coronapocalypse #PanicPorn pic.twitter.com/PcJA8ccliM
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) April 18, 2020
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