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Bill Maher tore into President Donald Trump for potentially accepting a $400 million jet from Qatar, noting that the intended Air Force One replacement would be his fourth plane — while kids might still get fewer toys as a result of his costly tariffs policy.
Trump launched steep levies last month on all U.S. imports, painting the policy as a just crusade to revive American manufacturing. He recently dismissed related economic concerns saying kids will just have to make due with fewer dolls in the future.
“Trump says he will not be using [the plane] when he leaves office, and people don’t believe that,” Maher said Friday during his opening “Real Time” monologue. “Not the ‘using it’ part — the ‘leaving office’ part. But, OK, so Trump now has four planes.”
“He’s got the two Air Force Ones that the government provides,” Maher continued. “Then he’s got his own plane. Now he’s got this one. Four planes, yet everybody else, still only three dolls and 10 pencils.”
Trump has said the plane would be a gift to the Department of Defense, and a source briefed on the matter told Reuters that it would ultimately be donated to Trump’s presidential library after he leaves office. The luxury jet would be one of the most valuable gifts ever received by the U.S. government, and has raised bipartisan concern.
Alex Brandon/Associated Press
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Maher speculated on how the right would react if the same situation happened with former President Barack Obama. The Democrat was famously excoriated by Republican critics in 2014 for merely wearing a tan suit to a press conference during his second administration.
“They gave [Trump] a $400 million plane, which he accepted,” said Maher. “Now, this has to be the ultimate ‘If Obama did it,’ I think. Because if Obama did it, Fox News would be endlessly calling it ‘Allah Force One.’ So I think I will call it that — ‘Allah Force One.’”
Maher has been a longtime Trump critic, but accepted a dinner invitation with the president earlier this year. The comedian and political pundit returned to his HBO show the following week — and called Trump “gracious and measured” to substantial backlash from critics.
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