Bill Maher Asks Chris Wallace About 9/11 Controversy That Led to Cancellation

Comic and expert Bill Maher I got angry at the CNN anchor and the host of Max Chris Wallace for bringing up – and releasing the clip – comments Maher made more than 23 years ago about the 9/11 hijackers that ultimately cost him his TV show.

Wallace interviewed Maher for this week’s edition of his Max series Who talks to Chris Wallace on a variety of topics, including politics. his affinity for marijuana and his new book. And, while talking about Maher’s long career – the post-9/11 controversy that cost him his show Politically incorrect.

After Wallace brought up these remarks and played a clip of them, Maher initially responded dismissively that it was still coming up all these years later.

“First of all, it’s so old,” Maher said. “Really? Is it still interesting?

“Well yeah. I mean, we’re talking about your career,” Maher said. “We’re talking 20 years.”

Maher said he regretted saying it at the time, but he didn’t regret saying it in principle.

“I mean,” George Bush said, “the cowards, uh, the terrorists win, unless we go back to what we were doing.” So I went back to doing what I was doing, which was telling the truth as I saw it.

But he also stressed that the decision to cancel was not based on the loss of viewers.

“We have never lost an audience. We never lost the audience,” Maher said.

WALLACE: In 1993, you launched Politically correct – –

MAHER: Incorrect.

WALLACE: Incorrectsorry, and yes Political Correctness would not be the name of your show, and – –

MAHER: I rebelled against that.

WALLACE: – On ABC. And finally, years later, the biggest controversy of your career, where, a few days after 9/11, you made a sort of comparison between the U.S. military and the Al Qaeda hijackers. ..

MAHER: Not the U.S. military.

WALLACE: Take a look

MAHER: That was never the case.

WALLACE: Take a look.

(CLIP)

MAHER: Yeah, but it wasn’t the army, I said us. Us as a society.

WALLACE: Well, I know, but for the missiles, it wasn’t the grocer doing the lobbying.

MAHER: Yes, and the military didn’t pay them either. Okay, it’s just that it was, it was — first of all, it’s so old. Really? Is it still interesting?

WALLACE: Yeah. Well yeah. I mean, we’re talking about your career. We are talking about 20 years. Let me just ask you this question and then we’ll move on.

MAHER: Anyway.

WALLACE: Looking back, were you just trying to go against the grain?

MAHER: Of course not, I agreed with someone who said that. You skipped this part. Someone said that the people who completed the mission may have been evil, but they weren’t cowards, which I don’t think is even controversial. Stick to the suicide mission – uh, not cowardly.

WALLACE: Do you regret saying it?

MAHER: I regret saying that that night. It probably was, six days after 9/11, and the country wasn’t ready to hear the truth. I mean, George Bush said, the cowards, uh, the terrorists win, unless we go back to what we were doing. So I went back to doing what I was doing, which was telling the truth as I saw it. We have never lost an audience. We never lost the audience. What we lost were the sponsors.

WALLLACE: And you ended up losing your spot because ABC canceled you a few months later. I agree, the ratings didn’t drop, but they canceled you.

MAHER: They definitely canceled us. And I’m glad they did, because I ended up in a much better place.

Watch the clip above via Max’s Who talks to Chris Wallace.

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