Former CIA Director John Brennan will be Bill Maher’s featured guest on HBO’s “Real Time” Friday night, according to a guest list released by the network.
Brennan, who served as CIA director under President Obama, recently had his security clearance revoked by President Trump, a move that was widely viewed as an effort to retaliate against a vocal critic of the administration.
Brennan currently serves as a senior national security and intelligence analyst for NBC News and MSNBC after signing with the Comcast-owned networks in February 2018.
Brennan has come under some criticism for his rhetoric against the president in recent days, including from former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
Clapper, in an appearance on “Meet the Press” last Sunday, said Brennan’s description of Trump’s Helsinki press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin as
“nothing short of treasonous” had become “an issue in and of itself.”
“John is sort of like a freight train, and he’s going to say what’s on his mind,” Clapper added. “I think though that the common denominator among all of us that have been speaking up is genuine concern about the jeopardy or threats to our institutions and values, although we may express that in different ways. I think that’s what really what this is about.”
Brennan walked back the comment last week, telling MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that he “didn’t mean that he committed treason, but it was a term that I used, nothing short of treasonous.”
Maher’s other guests on Friday will include Republican strategist Rick Wilson, the author of “Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever.” Wilson is a frequent guest on CNN and MSNBC.
Journalist Kara Swisher will be the host’s mid-show interview guest.
The roundtable panel will consist of Wilson, journalist David Corn and activist Saru Jayaraman.
This will Maher’s first show since the comedian and host contributed $1 million to a super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) that focuses on electing Democrats to the Senate, according to a Thursday report in Variety.
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