Bill Maher used his closing monologue on Friday’s edition of HBO’s “Real Time” to skewer what he called a contradiction at the heart of the American left: a former devotion to gun control now colliding with the celebrity treatment afforded to accused killer Luigi Mangione.
“It seems like five minutes ago when one of the big causes of the left was gun control, but now guns are the answer?” Mr. Maher said during the segment. “I guess. Because Luigi is a f—-ing rockstar.”
The remarks came as Mr. Maher turned to the subject of young political assassins and attempted assassins, a topic he said has shifted in character from earlier generations. “These are not your father’s political assassins,” he said. “Things have changed. For one thing, today’s assassins have popular support with the kids.”
The HBO host pointed to polling showing that up to 40% of young adults say violence is acceptable to achieve a political goal — a figure drawn from the fall 2025 edition of the Harvard Youth Poll, which found nearly 40% of young Americans believe that political violence is acceptable under certain circumstances, with a majority still saying it was unacceptable under any conditions.
Mr. Maher concluded his commentary with a less sympathetic read on the young perpetrators themselves, arguing they are motivated less by principled grievance than by personal frustration — using the guise of political heroism to make sense of their own disappointments.
Mr. Mangione, 27, is charged with the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City and faces a capital murder trial. His case has attracted a devoted following online and spawned a stage musical — “Luigi: The Musical” — a satirical comedy that premiered in June 2025 at Taylor Street Theatre in San Francisco, with its initial five-show run selling out before it opened. The production has since expanded to additional venues and is scheduled for a New York City reading this June.
The Friday episode of “Real Time” also featured an interview with Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, and a panel with Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Texas Republican, and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.
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