Maher spars with Texas Republican over ‘vaguely fascist' Trump military parade

The Hill

21-06-2025

Bill Maher clashed with Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) over President Trump's military parade on HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher' on Friday.
Maher, although open to the celebration ahead of the event last Saturday, slammed the parade, which drew smaller than expected crowds.
'If you're going to have a vaguely fascist parade, do it right,' he said.
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) immediately came to Trump's defense.
'And you know what I saw? I saw the president salute the Corps of Cadets as they walked past him. I watched him salute the 75th Ranger Regiment as they walk past him, I sat there and watched the fireworks behind the Washington Monument,' he said.
'And you what I thought? D—, that's absolutely outstanding. And it's far better than [former President] Biden checking his watch when bodies were being returned to Dover,' he continued, mentioning the return of 11 servicemen killed in Afghanistan in 2021.
Hunt served in the military from 2004 to 2012 and flew Apache helicopters. He was deployed in Iraq and in Saudi Arabia after which he left the military and attended Cornell University.
Hunt criticized Biden for what he described as a lack of patriotism and applauded Trump for celebrating the troops.
'And so, the dichotomy of what we're seeing with President Trump and his patriotism saluting the flag actually making an effort rather you like it or agree with the execution, the effort is there, that's all we want to see,' he said.
Maher responded, thanking Hunt for his service, but emphasized that 'execution does matter.'
The military parade drew widespread criticism from Trump critics and allies alike over its price tag, which cost millions of dollars. Hundreds of thousands of protests also gathered for 'No Kings' demonstrations against the parade and the Trump administration to correspond with the Washington event.