Bill Maher slams Kevin Hart for his ‘ridiculous’ claim in the New York Times about white power

A furious Bill Maher has slammed Kevin Hart for his ‘ridiculous’ claim that ‘white power and white privilege’ is at an ‘all-time high’, as he called out woke liberals for suffering from ‘progress-o-phobia’.  

On his Real Time With Bill Maher show Friday, he pointed to America’s tortured racial history attack the comedian’s claim during an interview with the New York Times that things have never been worse.  

‘This is one of the big problems with wokeness, that what you say doesn’t have to make sense or chime with the facts or ever be challenged, lest the challenge itself it conflated with racism,’ he said during the ‘New Rule’ segment. 

‘But saying white power and privilege is at an all-time high is just ridiculous. Higher than a century ago, the year of the Tulsa Race Massacre? Higher than the years when the KKK rode unchecked and the KKK went unchallenged?

‘Higher than the 1960s when the Supremes and The Willie Mays still couldn’t stay in the same hotel as the white people they were working with? Higher than during slavery?’

On his Real Time With Bill Maher show Friday, pointed to America’s tortured racial history attack Kevin Hart’s claims in an NYT article (pictured) that things have never been worse 

Hart (pictured) told the NYT: ‘You’re witnessing white power and white privilege at an all-time high’

Maher, 65, played a video of Joe Biden rambling about the increase in the number of mixed-race couples on TV before making his point that the far-left has ‘progressophobia,’ a term coined by Canadian psychologist Steven Pinker.   

The host – a liberal who is happy to call out the excesses of the modern left – said: ‘Actually Uncle Joe is pointing liberals to something that they need to be more aware of. 

‘If you don’t recognise it you’re part of the problem’: Kevin Hart’s comments to the NYT  

‘I don’t understand why everybody is so afraid to address the elephant in the room. It’s shocking to me. 

‘You’re witnessing white power and white privilege at an all-time high. 

‘For those who say they don’t understand that, or don’t see it, or are confused as to what that means, I’m going to say you’re a part of the problem.’

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‘They have a bad case of Progressophobia, that’s a term coined by Steven Pinker to describe a brain disorder that strikes liberals and makes them incapable of recognizing progress. 

‘It’s like situational blindness although it means you can’t see that your dorm in 2021 is better than the South before the Civil War.’

Maher pointed to progress made in gay marriage and racial diversity on TV to urge liberals to ‘adjust your mask because it’s covering your eyes’, as he added:  ‘There’s a recurring theme on the far-left that things have never been worse.’

The host accepted that ‘racism is still unfortunately with us’ but a more realistic approach was needed. 

‘Seeing it clearly is necessary for actually fixing problems, and clearly racism is simply no longer everywhere. It isn’t in my home and it probably isn’t in yours,’ he said.  

‘This progressive allergy to acknowledging societal advances is self-defeating. Because progress and hope that we can achieve it is the product we are selling, and having a warped view of reality means to policies that are warped. 

‘Black only dorms and graduation ceremonies, a growing belief in whiteness as a malady and white people as irredeemable, giving up on a colour blind society. Only if you believe we’ve made no progress does any of that make sense.’ 

Maher mentioned the Tulsa Race Massacre – the 100th anniversary of which was marked this year – to demonstrate America’s grim racial history 

Hart appeared in a New York Times feature last year in which he seemed to suggest America was more racist than ever.  

‘I don’t understand why everybody is so afraid to address the elephant in the room. It’s shocking to me,’ he said. 

‘You’re witnessing white power and white privilege at an all-time high. 

‘For those who say they don’t understand that, or don’t see it, or are confused as to what that means, I’m going to say you’re a part of the problem.’ 

Maher has become known for his straight-talking attacks on modern liberals, although he himself identifies as one. 

In April he ripped into liberals and the media for pushing ‘panic porn’ and praised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for protecting his elderly population better than New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

He also spoke of a time when the KKK were able to march around Washington DC (as shown in this image) 

Maher also said he doesn’t want politics mixed-in with his medical decisions and blamed the pandemic on obesity – while COVID-19 cases recently soared in 21 states, particularly among children.

‘Texas lifted its COVID restrictions recently and their infection rates went down, in part because of people getting outside and letting the sun and wind do their thing,’ Maher said.

‘But to many liberals, that can’t be right because Texas and beach-loving Florida have Republican governors.’