Bill Maher asks how evangelicals can support Trump, 'giant liar,' given his similarities to 'Satan, father of lies'

last updated 7 August 2017

HBO host Bill Maher on Friday sat down with Ralph Reed, formerly executive director of the Christian Coalition and currently chair of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, to ask why evangelical Christians are so supportive of President Trump despite what Maher perceives as some devilish tendencies.

"Why do you think Trump's support among the evangelicals is so solid?" Maher said. "Because he does seem like the least Christian man ever." Reed protested that though he did not initially expect to like Trump, he found the president's "word was his bond" as their acquaintanceship progressed, specifically pointing to Trump's nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

"So what you're saying is as long as he keeps his word to you, but lies to everybody else — because you can't deny that he's a giant liar," Maher replied, adding, "Don't you call Satan the 'father of lies'? Isn't that what he is? Isn't that, like, a little name you have for him? So, Trump, giant liar. Satan, father of lies." Reed replied by arguing that Trump, while imperfect, is the victim of selective outrage to which Democrat Hillary Clinton was immune in 2016.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.

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