'Get over silliness': Bill Maher blasts leftists over ICE-Iran comparison
Iranian-American Comedian Max Amini: “I think Trump made it very clear the war is not on the people of Iran, the war is with the government of Iran. So when he said we’re going to wipe [out a] civilization, I don’t think anybody was worried. I think we knew that he was just using… pic.twitter.com/y8LFcZvMFK
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) August 17, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC: During a discussion about Iran, political commentator and comedian Bill Maher pushed back against liberals who compare ICE killings in the US with Iran’s repression, saying the two are not morally equivalent in a discussion about Iran.
Maher argued that condemning ICE agents for killing people does not erase the difference between US government actions and Iran’s theocratic leadership.
He made the comments on Monday, August 17, while speaking with Iranian-American comedian Max Amini on an episode of his ‘Club Random’ podcast.
Bill Maher says ICE and Iran are not the same
“Yeah, ICE shouldn’t have killed those people. But it’s not the same thing. It just isn’t. Get over silliness, you know,” Maher said.
He was responding to anger from liberals over citizens being shot by ICE agents, while insisting that condemnation of those shootings should not be confused with Iran’s repression.
Maher was speaking to Max Amini, whose parents fled Iran during the 1979 revolution. Amini was born in the United States, lived in Iran from ages 8 to 17 and then returned to the US permanently.
When Maher asked whether Amini could ever visit Iran again, he replied, “I can’t, they’ll kill me!”
Maher said the exchange showed the moral difference he sees between the US government and Iran’s theocratic leadership.
“The truth is the truth, and this is the truth: you’d be killed,” he told Amini.
Maher raised the likely counterargument himself: "And ICE killed someone—" before dismissing it and drawing his distinction between the two governments.
He also said left-leaning Americans complain about life under President Donald Trump even though, in his view, the United States is “paradise” compared with places such as Iran.
Bill Maher contrasts Trump with Iran's regime
Maher described Iran as a “regime that is just totally okay with killing thousands of people in the street and has done it many times.”
He contrasted that with Trump, saying the president is “nowhere near as bad” because, rather than killing protesters, Trump posts AI-crafted videos of himself dropping feces on “No Kings” protesters.
Maher also said, “One reason the far-left just hates me is I keep it real about this s**t,” framing his comments as part of his broader criticism of the left.
The conversation focused heavily on Iran, with Amini discussing the country from his perspective as someone who lived there during childhood and whose parents left after the revolution.
Amini also addressed Trump’s threat in April to annihilate a “whole civilization” if Iran’s leaders did not reach a deal soon.
Max Amini downplays Trump's Iran threat
“I think we knew that he was just using Trump language to scare people,” Amini said of the president's April threat.
Amini told Maher he did not think “anybody was worried” when Trump made the threat against Iran, while Maher said he had been more worried than his guest at the time.
The exchange showed the two comedians had reacted differently to Trump's language, but their discussion returned to the distinction Maher drew between US actions and Iran’s treatment of protesters.
