“Real Time” host Bill Maher took aim at rapper Macklemore over his “F— America” declaration at an anti-Israel event.
The Grammy-winning artist went viral this week for his appearance at Seattle’s “Palestine Will Live Forever Festival” which raised money for various groups, including the controversial agency known as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which Israeli officials have declared is strongly tied to Hamas, leading to the firing of nine UNRWA staffers allegedly involved in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
Israeli officials have declared that UNRWA is strongly tied to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The U.N. itself announced in August that nine UNRWA staffers would be fired due to possible involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel.
“Straight up, say it. I’m not gonna stop you. I’m not gonna stop you,” Macklemore said, appearing to reference chants from the crowd.
“Yeah, F— America,” he said, sparking cheers from the audience.
Macklemore went viral this week for declaring “f— America” at a Seattle concert. (Kristy Sparow/Getty Images)
That didn’t sit well with Maher, who addressed the rapper’s declaration during his closing monologue.
“I’m sure it was a big hit with the Queers for Gaza crowd, literally advocating for a government that would imprison you or kill you for being queer from the safety and security of a country that doesn’t do that,” Maher said.
“Yes, America. The only place in the world where a White guy from the suburbs could become a millionaire rapper because here, every person, regardless of race, class or gender has the right to be talent-free,” he added.
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“Real Time” host Bill Maher tells Maureen Dowd he’s bored by the Trump-dictator narrative during an interview. (Screenshot/HBO)
In a follow-up statement on Instagram, Macklemore seemed to back down from his attack on America: “My thoughts and feelings are not always expressed perfectly or politely.” He added, “Sometimes I slip up and get caught in the moment. Saturday night was one of those times. I strive to always lead with love in an effort to bring people together and never to create more division.”
He concluded, “Unfortunately, the historic event in my hometown that brought thousands of people together to raise awareness and money for the people of Palestine has become overshadowed by two words. I wish I had been in a better place with my grief and anger. But the truth is I’m not ok. I haven’t been.”
Maher began his monologue by praising Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for helping Democrats be more patriotic at this year’s DNC convention, but lamented their sentiment hasn’t resonated with younger people.
“The protests that started off as justice for Palestine have morphed into a broader kind of America is the problem, ‘We f—ed up the whole world’ thing,” Maher said.
“Guess what document allows you to chant ‘Hey hey, ho ho’ followed by something really stupid,” Maher asked them before answering with the Constitution.
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After citing a study alleging four out of ten Gen Zers believe the Founding Fathers are “better described as villains,” Maher noted that how young some of them were including 18-year-old James Monroe, 21-year-old Alexander Hamilton and 25-year-old James Madison.
“They were the Gen Z of their day, and when they were your age, they started a country. What the f— have you done?” Maher asked.
Maher told the “Queers for Palestine” crowd they’d be imprisoned or killed in Gaza for being queer. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“History is complicated, and Gen Z reasoning is not. They think they’re pure, but they’re really just simplistic. They know two things: White people did some very bad things and- no, that’s it. That’s all they know,” Maher said, later adding “The citizens of Gaza cannot assemble in protest of their own government, cannot do or say what they want or practice whatever religion they want, or have a free press, all rights guaranteed in just our First Amendment! The irony in all of this is that the world the founders birth, flawed though it may be, provides the bedrock for everything that makes life good for the very people who hate them so much.”
“It’s so easy to take for granted individual liberty, a bill of rights, the rule of law, checks and balances, getting a trial by jury, the peaceful transfer of power, protecting minority rights and democracy itself, but those are the things that make our pampered, privileged, bratty lives so relatively cushy. No one starves here, even our poor people are fat,” he continued. “Why do millions of people every year risk their lives to come here? Because they want what we got! The founders were flawed, but they did build a place the whole world wants to break into. No one is paying a coyote to smuggle them into India or Russia. Immigrants don’t see us as the problem. They see us as a solution. And there’s a reason they kill themselves to get here.”
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.