Senate

GOP senator regrets not speaking up to Maher for using n-word

by Alicia Cohn - 06/03/17 9:49 AM ET

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who appeared to chuckle and smile after HBO host Bill Maher used the n-word in front of him on Friday night, tweeted Saturday that he wished he’d spoken up to defend “universal human dignity.”

{mosads}

Sasse said he was “cringing” at Maher’s use of the word, but that his response “wasn’t good enough.”

“I’m a 1st Amendment absolutist. Comedians get latitude to cross hard lines,” Sasse tweeted. “But free speech comes with a responsibility to speak up when folks use that word. Me just cringing last night wasn’t good enough.”

Sasse appeared on Maher’s cable talk show “Real Time” to promote his new book “The Vanishing American Adult.” During a conversation about visiting Nebraska, Sasse invited Maher to “work in the fields” with him.

“Work in the fields? Senator, I’m a house n–ga,” Maher said.

“Here’s what I wish I’d been quick enough to say in the moment,” Sasse tweeted. “Hold up, why would you think it’s OK to use that word? The history of the n-word is an attack on universal human dignity. It’s therefore an attack on the American Creed. Don’t use it.”

Maher is known for controversial statements and inflammatory takes on news. He was fired from his ABC program “Politically Incorrect” in 2001 after criticism over his comments on 9/11 and went on to HBO in 2003 where he hosts a similar program called “Real Time.”

Am walking off a redeye from LAX.
3 reflections on @billmaher
1. I’m a 1st Amendment absolutist. Comedians get latitude to cross hard lines.

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017

2. But free speech comes with a responsibility to speak up when folks use that word. Me just cringing last night wasn’t good enough.
(2of4?) https://t.co/e4Bw8s8tV2

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017

3. Here’s what I wish I’d been quick enough to say in the moment: “Hold up, why would you think it’s OK to use that word?…
(3of4?) https://t.co/mQL6wMEd7W

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017

(4of4)
“…The history of the n-word is an attack on universal human dignity. It’s therefore an attack on the American Creed. Don’t use it.” https://t.co/kEZm5vPFHK

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017

Tags Ben Sasse Bill Maher