In a surprise to just about everybody, leftist comedian Bill Maher recently came to the defense of former President Donald Trump. 

Maher did so, according to the Washington Times, on Saturday, during the broadcast of his HBO show Real Time Overtime. 

Before we get to what Maher had to say, though, some context is necessary.

The whole situation has to do with remarks that Trump recently made about disgraced former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).

Background

The remarks were made by Trump during a recent campaign event - in Glendale, Arizona - that he did alongside former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Here is what Trump said:

I don’t blame [former Vice President Dick Cheney] for sticking with his daughter, but his daughter is a very dumb individual. Very dumb, she’s a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face. You know, they're all war hawks when they're sitting in Washington in the nice buildings saying ‘Oh gee well, let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy.

If you are reading this article, the chances are that you are aware of the fact that Trump takes pride in the fact that no new wars were started under his administration. You are probably also aware of the fact that Trump likes to contrast this with the fact that others, such as Liz Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, seem to have a penchant for war.

With all of this in mind, Trump's point is obvious: Liz Cheney probably would not be such a Warhawk if she had to fight on the front lines of the wars that she calls for.

This, however, is not how the media and Cheney covered the story. Instead, they tried to claim that Trump was calling for Cheney to face a firing squad. This, however, was a step too far, and many corporate media outlets had to back away from their claim.

Maher responds

Maher is no friend of Trump's, but the corporate media's coverage of Trump's remarks was too much for even him. Accordingly, he came to Trump's defense over the weekend.

"I woke up today to the headline that Trump had called for a firing squad for Liz Cheney," Maher said.

He continued, "And this is what I really don't like about the media. No, he didn't… You don't have to move me to not like Donald Trump more than I already [don't]."

Maher went on to point out that Trump's criticism of Cheney is actually one that many Democrats - at least in the past - would have agreed with.

Maher concluded by asking the media not to "lie" to him anymore.