Comics are scared, bewildered by the election of Donald Trump

By bringing Margaret Cho and Dana Gould with him to Hawaii this year, Bill Maher has assembled three of the most outspoken liberal voices in comedy. Here’s a sampling of some of their strongest comments on the recent presidential election from recent phone conversations:

BILL MAHER

On where Hillary Clinton and the Democrats went wrong:

“I think the Democrats believed their own publicity about where America was and how, ‘Oh, it’s a majority-minority country, almost, now.’ … The Democrats made white working-class people feel like a minority. Now, some of them are racists and xenophobes, but I think most of them are just people who are out there saying, ‘You know what? My problems count, too.’ And the Democrats looked like they only cared about women and minorities, so they made white working-class people feel unappreciated and uncared for and unloved, and they voted for somebody else — even somebody as repugnant as Donald Trump. It’s not like they didn’t know about his flaws. It obviously just wasn’t the deal-breaker that we thought it was, which is a little depressing. When somebody can break that many rules of life and, you know, lie and boast and bully and accuse people of things and make stuff up off the top of his head, and not to mention the issues with women and sexual assault, and still get elected … but that’s where we are.”

MARGARET CHO

On what America under a Trump presidency holds for a minority woman:

“It’s terrifying. … I don’t know what’s going to happen, but what’s really scary are Trump’s supporters, who are incredibly racist, sexist. I don’t understand why they’re like that, and I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

DANA GOULD

On Trump as the new “Teflon Don”:

“He’s not even president and there’s been seven scandals. Nothing sticks to him because it’s like a carnival every day. I find it challenging as a comedian to talk about because it’s like making fun of a clown — well, the clown’s making fun of himself. Comedians don’t make fun of how big a clown’s shoes are. It’s hard to find your angle of attack.”

On Trump supporters walking out of his show recently in Vermont:

“I find that a lot of people say they voted for Trump because he’s a tough guy like they are, and then if you criticize Trump they storm out. I thought you said you were tough! They say, ‘I like Trump because he’s a straight shooter,’ and then every time he says something, they say, ‘Well, that’s not what he meant.’ … That’s the odd brilliance of him. Everything about him is a contradiction. He’s a TV personality, but, ‘I like him ’cause he’s real.’ He’s a ‘working–class guy,’ but he’s actually a billionaire. He’s an anti-Semite that wants to sleep with his Jewish daughter. You can’t really figure out where he’s at.“