Bill Maher took aim at Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Will Smith Friday evening, prompting several big reactions from his “Real Time” studio audience.
During his Friday night monologue, Maher touched on the big topic of the week in the United States: executions.
“What’s going on big this week? Executions. That’s what everybody’s talking about,” Maher told his audience. “Lethal injections. Firing squads. Lethal injection, that’s how we mostly do it in this country.”
He added: “It never works. But we keep doing it.”
As Maher went on, he mentioned the failed lethal injection of convicted murderer Christa Pike, noting they “saved her life so that we could have another shot at killing her.”
Here’s where Maher brought McConnell and his health struggles into the conversation. “Really. So, now she’s conscious and talking,” he said. “Or what Mitch McConnell calls ‘showing off.’”
This jab prompted a big reaction from the “Real Time” crowd, as they could be heard gasping in surprise, loudly laughing and thunderously applauding.
“We kid,” Maher assured the audience. “Gentle good humor.”
McConnell’s health has been a major topic the last several months, given the senator vanished from public life after being hospitalized in June following a fall at his home that left him briefly unconscious. His office initially gave very few details on his recovery, fueling rumors about his capacity to be able to return to work. In July, McConnell broke his silence on his health struggles, releasing a written statement and photo that said he was recovering after suffering a fall and a “mild case of pneumonia.”
“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages,” the release stated at the time. “But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital.”
However, when McConnell returned to work in September, the senator appeared to struggle, seemingly needing assistance to help cast a vote.
Of course, McConnell wasn’t the only prominent figure to get called out by Maher during his monologue Friday. Elsewhere in the address, Maher discussed the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.
“We’re going to kill him by firing squad. Pete Hegseth wants to do this, he wants it livestreamed so that people are able to watch,” Maher said. “So, be sure to smash that like and subscribe button.”
In response to this jab, the “Real Time” crowd once again erupted into thunderous applause. Here’s where Smith caught a stray from Maher.
“Man, this administration, especially Pete, they always want you to know that we don’t show any mercy to people like this,” he added. “In fact, before they shoot him, they’re going to have Will Smith come out and slap him across the face.”
Maher, of course, was referring to Smith’s Oscars slapping controversy, where he took the stage at the 2022 awards show and struck comedian Chris Rock over a joke at Jada Pinkett Smith’s expense.
The crowd appeared to like this quip, as it resulted in the biggest round of applause and cheers of the night.
Watch a highlight from Maher’s monologue above.