Bill Maher says 'elitists' have 'pissed off' truckers, 'Real Time' guest defends Freedom Convoy as 'uprising of everyday citizens' who want their voices heard

Liberal talk show host Bill Maher and his guest defended truckers participating in the "Freedom Convoy" protests in Canada. The latest episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher" welcomed former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson along with entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy, who argued in favor of the ongoing trucker protests.

"People are understanding this is about something more than just the vaccine mandate," Maher said of the protests.

"It's becoming a big thing. It's happening all over the world now," Maher noted, as possible Freedom Convoys have already been banned in France, Belgium, and Austria.

Maher mentioned the Department of Homeland Security report of a potential trucker protest on Sunday near the SoFi Stadium — the site of Super Bowl LVI – and a rumored demonstration in Washington, D.C. in March.

Ramaswamy – an entrepreneur in the healthcare and technology sectors – backed Maher's point and added, "If you think it's about vaccine mandates or white supremacy, you're missing the point."

"And this isn’t a Left or Right issue," said Ramaswamy – the author of the book "Woke Inc: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam." "This is about an uprising of everyday citizens in democracies around the world. It’s not just Canada, it’s not the United States, it’s western Europe, too, rising against the biggest threat to actual democracy, which I think is the rise of this managerial class in democracies around the world that are crushing the will of everyday people through bureaucracies.”

"And it’s the same people, by the way, Bill, who staff corporate boards of directors, who end up as associate deans of universities, who then end up being appointed as diplomats abroad," he noted. "These are the unelected class of leaders that ultimately, I think, are using their bureaucratic power to supplant the will of everyday, not only Americans, but Canadians and western Europeans, too."

"And that’s why we’re seeing a fusion of both the left and the right here saying that actually, we want our voices heard," Ramaswamy opined. "We want to be able to speak without fear of putting food on the dinner table. And you know what? The beautiful thing about a democracy is that so far, thank God, this has been a peaceful set of protests. I hope it says stays that way. That’s part of the messiness of democracy. That’s part of what makes it beautiful."

Ramaswamy compared the Freedom Convoy movement to the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020.

"I was still a biotech CEO back then, back then, every institutional elite in America, in other countries around the world, but especially in America, would step up and say what we need to do is we need to listen and open our hearts and minds," he recalled, then suggested, "And I think those same institutional leaders would now do well to take a page from that playbook and listen to these truckers.”

Maher tacked on to Ramaswamy's commentary with his own reason why protests are erupting around the world.

"You didn't use that word 'elitist' in your whole speech, but, like, that's the word I think is on people's tongues and minds," Maher said. "There is this idea, and it's not wrong, that some people are staying home in their Lululemons and other people can afford to, like, wait out and get a free vacation and money from the government, and other people can't. And they're pissed off – the people who can't."

Maher read a quote from the Canadian Prime Minister demeaning the anti-vaccine mandate protesters.

"They don't believe in science, they're often misogynistic, often racist," Trudeau said in September. "They take up space, and with that we have to make a choice – in terms of a leader in a country – do we tolerate these people?"

The liberal talk show host compared Trudeau's comments to Adolf Hitler.

Maher remarked, "'Tolerate these people?' Now you do sound like Hitler."