'You're not a freedom fighter because you want to keep eating donuts': Bill Maher warns that fat acceptance is exacerbating America's obesity epidemic and 'rewriting science to fit ideology'

Bill Maher warned that fat acceptance is toxic and is only exacerbating America's obesity epidemic.

In the latest episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher," the HBO host blamed the current culture of body positivity for celebrating unhealthy obesity.

"There's a disturbing trend going on in America these days: rewriting science to fit ideology or just to fit what you want reality to be," Maher declared.

"We've gone from 'fat acceptance' to 'fat celebration.' That's new," he added.

"To view letting yourself go as a point of pride? We used to at least try and be fit and healthy, and society praised those who succeeded," Maher noted.

"Now the term body positivity is used to mean 'I'm perfect the way I am because I'm me,'" the liberal talk show said. "It's Orwellian how often positivity is used to describe what's not healthy."

Maher rhetorically asked, "Let me ask you this: Have you ever seen a fat 90-year-old?"

He noted that the term "healthy at any weight" is an "unchallenged lie that people tell themselves so they can go on eating whatever they want."

Maher labeled the obesity epidemic as a "full-blown catastrophe."

Maher cited a 2019 article from the New York Times titled "Our Food is Killing Too Many of Us" that stated, " Poor diet is the leading cause of mortality in the United States, causing more than half a million deaths per year."

He pointed out that obese people had "horrible" outcomes during the COVID pandemic because of weakened immune systems.

"'It's literally a national security issue now," Maher said on Friday night. "Military recruitment is down by the most since the end of the draft, because, mainly, 17 to 24-year-olds are too fat to fight."

Maher blasted allies and supporters of the fat celebration movement, "You can make believe you’re fighting some great social justice battle for a besieged minority, but what you’re really doing is enabling addicts – which I thought we decided was bad."

He continued, "Companies like Nike, Sports Illustrated, Victoria’s Secret, companies that are specifically about fitness, nevertheless promote people who are plainly not into fitness."

Maher referenced how singer Adele was attacked for losing weight, and some people accused her of "fat-shaming."

Maher lampooned cards created by a body positivity website that are to be used during a doctor visit. The cards read: "Please don't weigh me unless it's (really) medically necessary. If you really need my weight, please tell me why so that I can give you my informed consent."

Maher slammed body positivity advocates, "You're not a freedom fighter because you want to keep eating donuts."

"Somehow 50 years ago, this country looked entirely different," he said, and then joked, "You don't think it was a struggle for them? You think cake wasn't delicious in 1969?"

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "From 1999 –2000 through 2017 –March 2020, U.S. obesity prevalence increased from 30.5% to 41.9%. During the same time, the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%."

The CDC stated, "The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was nearly $173 billion in 2019 dollars. Medical costs for adults who had obesity were $1,861 higher than medical costs for people with healthy weight."

New Rule: Fat Acceptance | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)www.youtube.com