Bill Maher, host of HBO’s “Real Time,” expressed hope for the American economy to crash so it may damage the chances of President Donald Trump getting reelected.
“Can I ask about the economy? Because this economy is going pretty well,” he said during a political debate on Friday with journalist Fareed Zakaria, columnist Linda Chavez, national affairs analyst John Heilemann, and political strategist Shermichael Singleton.
“I feel like the bottom has to fall out at some point and, and by the way, I’m hoping for it. Because I think one way you get rid of Trump is a crashing economy. So please, bring on the recession,” Maher said.
“Sorry if that hurts people,” he added and suggested that Trump’s second term would deprive Americans of democracy, leaving Trump’s opponents with no other choice but to “root for a recession.”
The American economy has pumped out many records over the past year, especially in recent months.
Black unemployment fell to 5.9 percent from an already record-low of 6.6 percent in April.
Female unemployment inched down to 3.6 percent, the lowest since 1953.
Trump ran for president with a promise of reviving the economy and the results look to boost his agenda in the midterms.
Including two special elections, there will be 35 Senate seats up for grabs come election day on Nov. 6. Of those, 23 are currently held by Democrats and two by independents—Bernie Sanders and Angus King, who are allied with Democrats. Republicans hold eight seats.
In addition, voters will decide on all 435 voting seats in the House of Representatives, where Republicans currently hold 235 seats versus the Democrats’ 193.
Some conservative commentators have worried that Maher’s view might be more widespread among people set on hurting Trump’s chances for reelection in 2020.