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Comedian Bill Maher waded into a moral discussion during Friday’s episode of “Real Time,” arguing that society must accept the uncomfortable reality that “bad people” can still accomplish good things.
“Stop asking me how it is that bad people can do good things,” Maher said during the show’s closing commentary.
“Here in California, we’ve been busy lately scraping a name off every building in the state because famed labor leader Cesar Chavez turned out to be not the folk saint we had been told,” he said, referencing emerging accusations that the famed labor activist sexually abused young girls.
The accusations, highlighted in a recent New York Times report, include claims from women such as Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas, who say Chavez abused them multiple times in the 1970s.
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“Officials here have been in such a rush to get his name off schools, half the kids in LA now go to TBD Elementary,” Maher added, drawing laughter from the audience.
Maher said the controversy highlights what he called “the age-old quandary of purists versus utilitarians,” presenting a stark moral question that weighs personal wrongdoing against broader societal impact.
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Workers cover a mural by Emigdio Vasquez featuring Cesar Chavez and other figures at Santa Ana College in Santa Ana, Calif., Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) (Jae C. Hong/AP)
“Chavez undeniably made the lives of millions better, so, the question is, if you could go back in time and kill him to spare the young girls he assaulted, would you?” he joked.
“A purist says yes. I say no,” he continued, citing labor activist Dolores Huerta, whom he said was among Chavez’s alleged victims, noting she prioritized the farmworker movement over exposing his behavior.
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Cesar Chavez, then-president of the United Farm Workers, speaks in California in 1988. (Bob Riha Jr./Getty Images)
Maher went on to argue that history is filled with flawed figures whose positive contributions coexist with serious wrongdoing, pointing to Thomas Jefferson’s controversial relationship with slave Sally Hemings and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for allowing women to drive in the country. He contrasted that with the death of a journalist for which Saudi Arabia was blamed, according to a declassified report from 2021.
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Maher also pointed to President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as well as figures in entertainment, noting that audiences often separate art from the artist, citing artists like Kanye West continuing to sell out stadiums despite prior controversies.
“Here’s where someone always says, ‘Why can’t we just have great deeds done by good people?’ I don’t know. Because we live on Earth. Things are really imperfect here,” Maher said.
