HBO host Bill Maher said he is “glad” billionaire businessman David Koch is dead and expressed hope that “the end was painful.”
Fox News host Greg Gutfeld, however, defended Koch as a “generous libertarian” whose accomplishments “did more for the world in a day, than Maher will do in his lifetime.”
Shifting to the topic of Koch’s death from prostate cancer during his Friday night “Real Time with Bill Maher” monologue, Maher accused the libertarian activist and his brother, Charles, of funding “climate science deniers for decades.”
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“And now some funeral news to report,” Maher said. “Yesterday David Koch, of the zillionaire Koch brothers, died of prostate cancer. I guess I’m going to have to re-evaluate my low opinion of prostate cancer. He was 79, but his family says they wish it could be longer, but at least he lived long enough to see the Amazon catch fire.”
Maher continued as the audience laughed: “Condolences poured in from all the politicians he owned, and mourners are being asked in lieu of flowers to just leave their car engine running. As for his remains, he has asked to be cremated and have his ashes blown into a child’s lungs.”
The HBO host joked that he would surely “be condemned” by Fox News for his “harsh words and harsh jokes” while Koch will be portrayed “as a principled libertarian who believed in the free market.” (RELATED: Tucker: Why Are The Koch Brothers ‘Running The Republican Party’ When They Disagree With So Many Republicans?)
“He and his brother have done more than anybody to fund climate science deniers for decades, so f*ck him!” said Maher. “The Amazon is burning up. I’m glad he’s dead and I hope the end was painful.”
Maher’s “harsh words” weren’t the only vitriol directed by liberals at the deceased billionaire, who, along with his brother, financed conservative and libertarian causes and politicians for decades. One example of many includes Shadowproof managing editor Kevin Gosztola, who tweeted that the Koch family should “drop his body out of luxury jet into blazing Amazon rainforest in Brazil.”
Gutfeld called the applause at Maher’s joke “evidence of a needy phony and a gleeful mob uniting” in a Friday night tweet.
“Koch was a generous libertarian, whose millions went to fight disease,” Gutfeld wrote. “He did more for the world in a day, than Maher will do in his lifetime.”
so @billmaher said he’s glad david koch died, and his audience applauded. evidence of a needy phony and a gleeful mob uniting. Koch was a generous libertarian, whose millions went to fight disease. he did more for the world in a day, than Maher will do in his lifetime
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) August 24, 2019