The political class of the United States has been in a wine glass/two people talking situation since Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on the campus of Utah Valley University. Depending on who you talk to, Kirk was either a proponent of hateful, far-right ideology or a paragon of the idea of open debate. He was killed for that by a gunman who was either a left-wing radical, a far-right groyper or a brain-rotted young man with no discernible ideology.
Ben Shapiro and Bill Maher debated the facts of the shooting on Friday night during an episode of HBO’s “Real Time.” Kirk’s fellow online conservative felt that the suspected shooter was a “Marxist,” while the aging liberal crank countered that the only thing he was certain of was our own uncertainty.
“If we are not politically correct, then we understand if there’s a shooting at a synagogue, it’s very likely to be either a white supremacist or a radical Muslim,” Shapiro said. “If it’s the shooting of a Republican politician, then it’s very likely to be a trans, antifa, Marxist shooting.”
“It’s two days out. We don’t know s**t, Ben!” Maher countered. We don’t know s**t. They never do. The internet is undefeated in getting it wrong to begin with.”
Maher then listed off all the incorrect information he’d encountered about the suspect since his identity was revealed.
“First, I heard he’s a registered Republican. Not true. Then he was a donor to Trump. Not true. His father works in the sheriff’s office. Not true. There was a picture of him wearing a pro-Trump shirt. Not true. A member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Not true,” Maher said. “We don’t know what he is.”
Maher went on to stress that some of the seemingly left-wing phrases that were reportedly found on bullet casings at the scene could also be references to memes popular among followers of far-right commentator Nick Fuentes.
Watch Maher and Shapiro debate below via YouTube:
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