Overview

• On HBO’s Real Time, Bill Maher denounced people who mocked or justified Kirk’s killing and rejected calls that frame politics as a literal war.
• Maher said the key divide is between those who seek escalation and those who want to avoid it.
• Ben Shapiro, a panelist alongside Tim Alberta, said Kirk was shot while answering a question and described knowing him for 13 years.
• Shapiro cited polling indicating a sizable share of Gen Z views violence as sometimes acceptable in response to speech.
• In his monologue, Maher mocked President Trump’s rants blaming the left and cautioned that labeling opponents as Hitler can make political violence easier to rationalize.