Bill Maher favors cutting public broadcasting funding, rejects NPR CEO's testimony that outlet is unbiased
"Real Time" host Bill Maher argued in favor of pulling federal funding from NPR, insisting it has to go private in the age of hyper-partisan politics.
During his online "Overtime" segment, Maher read a viewer question asking the panel to react to the testimony of NPR CEO Katherine Maher (no relation) and PBS CEO Paula Kerger, who defended their outlets to the House of Representatives' newly-formed Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee as GOP lawmakers call to strip them of taxpayer money over their left-wing bias.
He specifically called out his "namesake" Maher over her repeated assertions that NPR was "unbiased."
"Give me a break, lady," Maher reacted. "I mean, they're crazy far-left."
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The HBO host went on to say the country is "past the age" where the federal government can subsidize outlets like NPR and PBS.
"Why do we need to subsidize," Maher asked. "We're so polarized. These outlets became popular at a time when Republicans and Democrats didn't hate each other and weren't at each other's throats and didn't think each other was an existential threat. In that world, you can't have places like this, I think, anymore. They have to be private."
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In her opening remarks, Katherine Maher said NPR plays an essential role in "delivering unbiased, nonpartisan, fact-based reporting" to Americans. She said NPR is the only "non-paywalled" news outlet with a reporter dedicated to covering veterans’ issues, and she believes local public journalism "has never been more important to American families."
At one point, she claimed she had "never seen any instance of political bias determining editorial decisions," drawing scorn from conservatives online.
Katherine Maher, who joined NPR in March 2024, was repeatedly grilled over her past social media posts touting various left-wing ideologies, which she distanced herself from. She also admitted it was a "mistake" for NPR to dismiss the Hunter Biden laptop scandal during the 2020 election.
Fox News Digital reached out to NPR for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.