title:  Bill Maher Nails Republicans For Letting Their Party Get Hijacked By Racists (VIDEO)
text: Bill Maher laid into the GOP on Friday night for creating the racist mess that has taken over the party.During the program, the HBO host wasted no time summing up the Republican Party situation as he began the discussion with his panel of guests. The Republican Party is having an existential crisis. They are very upset that half their voters want to give nuclear weapons to a guy who gets into Twitter feuds with D-list celebrities. We understand that. I almost feel bad for them, except I really don t, because they brought this on themselves. They made a Faustian deal with the racist devil years ago and now those chickens are coming home to roost. He then read a statement made by House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said that any person who wants to be the GOP nominee must reject bigotry because  this party does not prey on people s prejudices. Maher immediately called bullshit, pointing out that if Republicans really believed that they wouldn t be pursuing voter ID laws that disenfranchise minority voters or jump to the defense of a police officer every time an unarmed black man is shot dead. Who are they kidding?  Maher asked.  This is the party they are and Trump is just the latest. Indeed, Donald Trump rallies have become nothing more than giant white supremacist rallies where Trump disparages people of color and orders his goons to beat up black protesters and remove them from the audience.Conservative author Matt Lewis admitted that the GOP has been dumbing down its voters but claimed that racism isn t as prevalent within the party as it seems. After claiming that the GOP presidential field is more diverse than the Democratic field, Maher noted that the two Hispanic candidates, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio,  want to put other Hispanics on cattle carts and throw them out of the country. Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards also chimed in by pointing out that Republicans are starting to line up behind Trump despite objections to his racism, so they can t really have much of a problem with it.Maher also reminded Lewis that what Republicans are doing now isn t new. It was called the Southern Strategy when Nixon did it. Reagan started his campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi. It s always been a winking campaign to get white poor people, mostly, who have a resentment to vote racially. Let s not pretend this is new. In the end, Maher said the GOP  big tent  is more like a house. The Republican establishment gave racists a room in their house and now the racists have taken over the house to the point where moderate Republicans are scared to go to the kitchen at night for a snack.Here s the video via YouTube. Featured image via screen capture