In a recent podcast appearance, liberal comedian Bill Maher didn’t hold back in criticizing former President Barack Obama for creating a moral equivalency between Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel and Israel’s defensive responses.

“I must say I am struggling with people’s moral equivalency, still,” Maher stated, adding, “I mean, Barack Obama, who has rarely disappointed me, did so this week with his statement. I mean, it’s not a horrible statement. But he said, if you want to solve the problem, then you have to take in the whole truth and then you have to admit nobody’s hands are clean.”

Obama had said, “What Hamas did was horrific, and there is no justification for it. And what is also true is that the occupation, and what’s happening to Palestinians, is unbearable. If you want to solve the problem, then you have to take in the whole truth. And then you have to admit nobody’s hands are clean, that all of us are complicit to some degree.” 

Maher argued that there’s a substantial difference between collateral damage and the deliberate actions of Hamas. He pointed out that Israel consistently opened evacuation corridors for seven hours every day to assist tens of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza.

“So people say, ‘Oh, wow, big of them,’” Maher remarked, adding, “Okay. But it is a war that the other side started. So interesting when they fire at Israel, it’s a war, and when Israel fires back, it’s a war crime. A little crazy. So — and also, would Hamas do that? Would they give a four-hour pause? No. No pausing.”

The comedian also commended Israel for taking swift action against its Heritage Minister, who suggested the use of nuclear weapons in Gaza. “Would that happen in reverse? So enough with the moral equivalencies, please,” he stated.

Maher concluded by mentioning that people seem to be forgetting the role of Islamic fanaticism in the conflict. “You’re not supposed to talk about that anymore, because if you do, no matter how realistic it is, it becomes Islamophobia,” he cautioned.