Bill Maher declares Harvard, UPenn 'Team Hamas,’ derides ‘idiot’ students who are attacking Israel

"Real Time" host Bill Maher railed against universities like Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania as being "Team Hamas" and having students who are "useful idiots." Maher also defended the anti-Israel rhetoric on the principle of free speech, saying it "works both ways."

The presidents of Harvard and UPenn have sparked intense backlash this week for their testimony on Capitol Hill after failing to say that calls for genocide against Jews violate their university's code of conduct.

Maher kicked off the interview with pro-free speech group FIRE CEO Greg Lukianoff by pointing to its ranking of colleges regarding free speech and how Harvard and UPenn ranked at the very bottom of nearly 250 universities.

"So these are two of the colleges who are now on Team Hamas," Maher said. "Is that a coincidence? Or what is the connection?"

Maher began listing slogans heard at pro-Palestinian rallies on college campuses and started by defending the use of the word "intifada," which he described as "one of those vague terms like jihad," admitting it "probably means violence." But then he considered the pro-Palestinian slogan "From the river to the sea" as "a little more genocide-y."

"But, you know, let's give the benefit of the doubt- that could be ‘Well, we just want the Jews to move and not die,'" Maher quipped. "And then there's the phrase ‘by any means necessary.’ Ok, now I'm kinda peeing my pants."

Lukianoff responded by saying the term intifada is "absolutely protected" speech but quickly stressed that "of course" it can also fall under threats or harassment.

"It was kind of embarrassing to watch these university presidents of the top institutions in the country not being able to answer that clearly," Lukianoff said.

"What irks me is that look, I'm always going to be on the side ‘as far as you can push free speech,'" Maher said. "What bothers me is the double standard… Say they don't want to say ‘Kill the Jews,’ but I certainly have heard chanted ‘F--- the Jews, f--- the Jews.’"... (Read more)

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