By now, we’re pretty much all used to conservatives and Trump supporters pushing back on COVID-19 mandates. But over the weekend, noted liberal Bill Maher made some eyebrow-raising remarks about people who still wear masks even while fully vaccinated and boostered. His comments caught the attention of Whoopi Goldberg, who tore Maher a new one during Monday’s episode of The View.
During the monologue on his HBO series Friday, Maher said it was “ridiculous” that people are still being proactive against spreading the more infectious yet generally milder omicron variant.
“I don’t want to live in your paranoid world anymore, your masked, paranoid world,” Maher said smugly. “You know, you go out — it’s silly now. You know you have to have your mask, you have to have a card, you have to have a booster. They scan your head like you’re a cashier and I’m a bunch of bananas. I’m not bananas, you are!”
Goldberg, who herself tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, was unequivocally unamused.
“That’s not really funny to people who have lost their kids, or people who have lost family members or dear friends to this,” said Goldberg, after playing the clip. “Listen, nobody on the planet really wants to go through this. This is not something we’re doing because it’s sexually gratifying. This is what we’re doing to protect our families.”
“And you don’t have to do it, but stay away from everybody. Because if you’re the one who’s not paying attention when you’re coughing and sneezing — then stay out of the public,” she continued. “Nobody wants this. I don’t want it. And I think he’s forgetting that people are still at risk who cannot get vaccinated. Little kids, under the age of five, or people with health conditions.”
“How dare you be so flippant, man?” Goldberg then asked, incredulously.
“Like, they’re over it, like they’re in a relationship,” added Joy Behar. “‘I’m over it, I don’t feel like seeing you anymore.'”
Sara Haines then interjected that measures such as mask-wearing and carrying hand sanitizer are simply a reflection of our new normal, just as 9/11 changed the way we take commercial flights.
“I think some of the things that we’ve learned in this pandemic are gonna stay the same,” said Haines. “I may never ride a subway again without a mask. I may never go indoors, to big crowds, and ever feel comfortable without a mask, and that’s up to me to do that.”
Just before Maher’s comments aired on Real Time, Deadline published an interview with the 66-year-old, who expressed distrust in the medical establishment and Dr. Anthony Fauci, in particular — claiming “don’t know a lot about anything” when it comes to the virus.
“So, don’t sit there in your white coat and tell me just do what we say,” Maher said at the time. “When have we ever been wrong? A lot is my answer. A lot. They drilled mercury into my teeth when I was a child. Now, of course, we don’t do that anymore, but do you really think in 50 years people will look back and say, oh, yeah, we had it all figured out in 2022? No, they will be appalled at things we’re doing right now.”
Well, the good news is that if we don’t get this pandemic under control, then perhaps there will be no one left in 50 years to be appalled with the way we’re handling things now. Always got to look on the bright side, Bill.