John Fetterman and Bill Maher agree chaos in LA and Dem reaction to riots will be ‘good for Trump’

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and “Real Time” host Bill Maher agreed on Friday that the optics of Democrats defending the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles will be “good for Trump” as scenes of chaos from the riots continue to go viral on social media.

Maher noted that some on the left condemned Fetterman after he denounced the violence happening in the streets of Los Angeles and agreed that “it doesn’t do the Democratic Party any good to defend” the violent protests.

Fetterman issued a strong message on X Monday evening denouncing the riots in L.A. and included a now-infamous photo showing a rioter standing on a car while waving the Mexican flag surrounded by raging flames.

“I agree. When they see it in a campaign ad, when they see the guy with the Mexican flag and the Waymo burning behind him, it’s going to be good for Trump,” said Maher.

Fetterman concurred, noting that most Americans don’t want to see Los Angeles “on fire twice in just six months now.”

Reflecting on the political impact of such imagery, he asked, “And those optics, I just run that through — like what’s the people in Scranton might see those kinds of images and those kinds of videos?”

Maher then emphasized that Fetterman’s views on free speech and immigration still align with core Democratic values, and those who are calling him out are doing so because he’s not a “progressive,” adding that “we don’t even know what these terms mean” in today’s political climate.

The “Real Time” host said that he sees himself as an “old-school Democrat,” to which Fetterman agreed.

“That’s the thing,” Fetterman replied. “It’s like your values — I don’t think have changed — I know mine haven’t really changed. But I think our party has changed and now if you actually kind of point out and call out a lot of these things, you know, you do take a political price for a lot of those things.”