HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher laid the perfect trap for California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff over the weekend on the issue of President Donald Trump’s decision to launch military operations in Iran.
Like so many issues related to Trump, Maher showed a prominent Democrat to be a complete hypocrite.
“This statement from the administration: ‘The president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest.’ That’s too vague for you?” Maher asked Schiff about his claim that Trump lacked the constitutional authority to greenlight Operation Epic Fury.
“Totally vague,” Schiff responded.
But Trump never issued such a statement, Maher pointed out.
The statement was actually from former President Barack Obama.
“Okay. Because that’s from Obama about Libya,” Maher informed Schiff.
Adam Schiff falls right into Bill Maher’s trap as he criticizes a statement he thought was from Trump but was actually from Obama.
MAHER: “This statement from the administration: ‘The president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could… pic.twitter.com/5jg3wpdAQZ
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) March 7, 2026
Obama oversaw a seven-month military operation against Libya in March 2011 that resulted in the fall of the regime of Muammar Qaddafi. Obama justified the operation by saying it was to protect Libya’s citizens rising up against Gaddafi’s regime and noted the dictator’s long history of destabilizing the region and funding terrorist strikes against Americans.
“When our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act. That’s what happened in Libya over the course of these last six weeks,” Obama said in an address to the American people in late March 2011.
“For more than four decades, the Libyan people have been ruled by a tyrant — Muammar Qaddafi. He has denied his people freedom, exploited their wealth, murdered opponents at home and abroad, and terrorized innocent people around the world — including Americans who were killed by Libyan agents,” he added.
Obama noted that in February of that year, Libyans had taken to the streets in protest against Qaddafi’s regime, and they were attacked and killed by the government.
Does any of this sound familiar to events in Iran in recent months?
Obama pointed out in his 2011 remarks that he had shared his plans with congressional leaders, but he did not obtain congressional approval through a declaration of war or other use of force authorization.
As Trump said regarding Iran, Obama told the American people that the operation’s stated objective was not regime change, but such a result would be desirable.
Schiff, apparently realizing that Maher made a strong point, shifted his response to pointing out how Obama did not undertake military operations against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad in 2013 in the face of congressional opposition.
In fact, Obama did not act despite warning Assad that the use of chemical weapons against his own people was a “red line” that would result in a U.S. military response.
“Obama made the argument, initially, that he could go into Syria without authorization,” Schiff recounted. “I, and many others, pushed back on that argument. Ultimately, he did not go forward with going after Assad, even though Assad was gassing his own people, because he thought he might lose the vote in Congress.”
The only problem with the lawmaker’s argument is that both the Senate and the House last week voted against invoking the War Powers Resolution to force Trump to end military action against Iran, meaning that Congress, at this point, permitted the operation to go forward.
So, Maher showed Schiff to be a big fat hypocrite.
For his part, Maher, a frequent Trump critic, supports military operations against Iran.
“If you expected me to say I hate it, I don’t. Sorry!” he said. “I know too many happy Iranian-Americans.”
Bill Maher on the Iran war: “If you expected me to say I hate it, I don’t. Sorry! You cannot name one horrible thing that has happened in the Middle East in the last 50 years and not connect it to this fascist theocracy.”pic.twitter.com/p2GUYKFQ1P
— Joe Rogan Podcast News (@joeroganhq) March 7, 2026
Maher added, “You cannot name one horrible thing that has happened in the Middle East in the last 50 years and not connect it to this fascist theocracy.”
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