“Real Time” host Bill Maher applauded the Supreme Court on Friday for overturning most of the “emergency” tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump while also ripping Trump over his aggressive reaction to the ruling.
“The Supreme Court said they struck down his request to have emergency powers to impose tariffs,” said Maher during his opening monologue. “They said ‘yes’ to pretty much everything he wanted to do, but here, they finally said, ‘You know what? Don’t fuck with the money.’ Trump took it very well.”
He continued, “I’m joking, of course. He went batshit about it … that it was a ‘disgrace’ and ‘these fucking courts.’ He’s such a Karen. I mean, everything he does, everything is always, ‘I want to speak to the manager.’ And the Supreme Court said, ‘We’re the manager.’”
The Supreme Court upheld an essential separation of powers with the extraordinary 6-3 decision Friday, ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the president to impose tariffs despite Trump invoking that very law to do so.
The president attacked the ruling in signature harsh fashion, calling the justices who ruled against him a “disgrace to our nation” during a Friday press conference and reportedly ranting in private about “these fucking courts.”
“So after this whole year of tariffs that we’ve been going through, have you been thinking to yourself, ’Why didn’t other presidents think of doing this and not confiding in Congress when their Constitution says they have to?” Maher said on Friday. “They did think of it — they thought it was illegal, so they didn’t do it.”
While the punchline prompted applause, other pundits have warned that Trump will find other ways to impose his tariffs. He suggested as much in November, and followed through on Friday by announcing a global 10% tariff — before raising it to 15% on Saturday.
“Now, the president says there are other ways he can get what he wants with the tariffs,” said Maher. “I don’t know what they are, but if you’ve ever been to Washington, D.C., and you’ve seen that majestic Supreme Court building, it’s going to make a lovely ballroom.”
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On Friday, Maher also brought up the president’s apparent shock at Maher’s continued criticism of him after they privately met for dinner last year.
“So he went off on me and said the dinner we had was a ‘waste of time,’” Maher said. “Well, I didn’t think it was — and that I’m a ‘jerk’ and that I’m a low-ratings ‘lightweight’ and all this shit — because I never stopped criticizing him. I never said I would! I know how women feel now — a guy buys you dinner and then expects you to put out.”