Adam Schiff, tricked by Bill Maher, blasts Obama’s war justification he thought came from Trump

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Sen Adam Schiff found himself in an awkward moment on 'Real Time with Bill Maher' after criticizing a statement about the use of military force he believed came from Donald Trump, only to learn it was actually from former President Barack Obama.

Host Bill Maher set up the moment by reading a statement explaining the legal authority for the president to order military action without explicit congressional approval.

Adam Schiff slams ‘vague’ statement then attempts damage control

Maher read aloud a justification for military force used by a presidential administration. 

“This statement from the administration: ‘The president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest,’” Maher said.

He then asked Schiff whether that reasoning sounded too broad. “That’s too vague for you?” Maher asked.

“Totally vague,” Schiff replied without hesitation. Maher quickly revealed the twist. “Okay, because that’s from Obama about Libya,” he said.

The quote referenced the Obama administration’s legal rationale for the 2011 US military intervention in Libya.

After learning the quote came from Obama, Schiff defended his response and said that he had also challenged the limits of presidential war authority during the former president’s time in office.

“Well, Obama made the argument initially that he could go into Syria without an authorization,” Schiff said. “I and many others pushed back on that argument.”

Schiff pointed to the debate surrounding potential US military action in Syria following accusations that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons against civilians.

According to Schiff, Obama ultimately decided not to move forward with a strike once it became clear that Congress might not support it.

“Ultimately, he did not go forward with going after Assad, even though Assad was gassing his own people, because he thought he might lose the vote in Congress,” Schiff said.

“But I respect the fact that that was important to him, and the fact that he did not have the support of Congress meant that we weren’t going to go forward,” he added.

Bill Maher backs Trump on Iran action

The exchange came during an episode that included a discussion of US military action in Iran.

Earlier in the show, Maher addressed the strikes during his opening monologue and said that he did not automatically oppose them, arguing that the Iranian regime had played a destabilizing role in the Middle East for decades.

Maher told the audience he would oppose sending American troops into a ground war but was not ready to condemn the campaign outright.

“When he puts boots on the ground, yeah, then I’ll hate it,” Maher said.

The comedian added that he knows “too many happy Iranian Americans,” suggesting that some people with ties to Iran were welcoming the strikes against the country’s theocracy.