Invoice Maher says COVID lockdown critics ‘had been proper’ about college closures

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Late-night host Bill Maher asserted that anti-COVID lockdown advocates who argued that closing faculties for an prolonged time frame would trigger extra hurt than good to kids "had been proper," and that the Wuhan lab leak theory "wasn't a conspiracy idea" in any case.

Throughout Friday's episode of "Actual Time," Maher mentioned that years after the COVID pandemic lastly got here to a detailed, he is uninterested in listening to folks make excuses for the way dissenting voices had been handled for talking out in opposition to COVID insurance policies like masking and lockdowns.

"I get it that we did not know precisely what was occurring in the beginning of COVID, and a few errors had been inevitable. However 4 years on, I am uninterested in listening to, 'Nicely, we did not know,'" he mentioned. "No, we did not. However some folks guessed higher than others. And the individuals who bought it incorrect do not appear to need to acknowledge that now."

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Late-night host Invoice Maher on the set of "Actual Time" on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (Screenshot/HBO)

"Some folks mentioned closing faculties for thus lengthy was pointless, and would trigger a lot worse collateral injury to children and so they had been proper," Maher added.

Citing a 2021 article from the Every day Beast titled "Invoice Maher Pushes Steve Bannon Wuhan Lab COVID Conspiracy," the "Actual Time" host famous that protection like this "was typical of the mainstream media on the time."

"After all, it wasn't a conspiracy idea, and it wasn't owned by Steve Bannon," he asserted. "And now everybody, together with the Biden administration, admits there's at the very least a 50-50 likelihood that the virus may have begun within the lab in Wuhan that was doing gain-of-function analysis on that virus. Duh. However I do not see a number of retractions being printed."

Maher argued that "we did a number of silly issues" throughout the COVID pandemic as a result of "America by no means reacts. It solely overreacts."

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"Ubers appeared like these Orthodox Jews who wrap themselves in saran wrap in case their aircraft flies over a grave. We washed the mail. We performed baseball in entrance of cardboard cutouts. And, ate in parking heaps, or with inflatable dolls? They closed the ocean. We banged pots and pans to point out our love for nurses and our hatred for folks attempting to get a child to sleep," Maher mentioned, itemizing off a number of different examples.

Concerning the response to the COVID pandemic, Invoice Maher mentioned, "Some folks guessed higher than others. And the individuals who bought it incorrect do not appear to need to acknowledge that now." (iStock)

"And for those who completely should go to the seaside, for the sake of all that is holy, put on a masks. Outdoors? As a result of the very last thing you'll need to do when a illness is afoot is get recent air and sunshine and vitamin D. No, a lot better to remain locked up, stressed and day consuming," he added.

Maher additionally criticized what he described as an unwillingness on the time to acknowledge pure immunity as efficient safety in opposition to the virus. He quipped that "for those who do get COVID, bear in mind, pure immunity is at all times the worst type. So even for those who've had the illness, you want a shot."

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Closing his ideas, Maher argued the rationale why "the powers that be by no means needed a COVID fee" was as a result of "a number of dissenting opinions that had been suppressed and ridiculed on the time have confirmed to be right."

Maher warned that "we've not discovered a factor" from the COVID pandemic. (Noam Galai/Getty Photos)

Increasing on that time, Maher argued that the nation has didn't study significant classes from the pandemic, saying, "Acquire of perform analysis continues to be occurring in labs. We're nonetheless torturing animals by elevating our meals and situations excellent for viruses to make the leap to people. Chook flu was simply present in a goat, which suggests we're only one lonely farmer from the following pandemic. We handed out $4 trillion of free cash, $280 billion of which was simply flat-out stolen in what the AP referred to as the best grift in U.S. Historical past, and which began an inflationary spiral that we now blame on Biden."