Bill Maher calls for an end to COVID restrictions, says freer red states a ‘joy’ to visit

HBO Real Time host Bill Maher is slamming what he says are unnecessary, continued COVID-19 I restrictions, pointing to the less-restricted Red states throughout the country as a model for how the U.S. should adjust to the ongoing pandemic moving forward.

"Just resume living," Maher told his audience during Friday’s broadcast. "I know some people seem to not want to give up on the wonderful pandemic, but you know what? It's over.”

“There's always going to be a variant. You shouldn't have to wear masks,” he continued. “I haven't had a meeting with my staff since March of 2020. Why?"

Speaking to the show’s guest panel, Maher asked Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons about the continued restrictions found in Blue states compared to the relative freedom found in Red ones. 

“I travel in every state now, back on the road, and the red states are a joy and the blue states are a pain in the ass,” Maher argued. “For no reason," 

Coons responded by suggesting that continued restrictions in the U.S. are due in part to COVID cases in other parts of the world. 

“[I]n the United States, in most of the Western world, we're ready to be done with this, but we're not done until the world is safe and we're not safe as a world until the world's vaccinated,” he said.