Bill Maher, the sharp-tongued liberal comedian who’s never shied away from skewering both sides, dropped a bombshell on Friday’s HBO Real Time that even his progressive audience had to grapple with: the Middle East is the safest it’s been in 20 years, thanks to Donald Trump and Israel. Citing the Abraham Accords, the decimation of ISIS, and a deterred Iran under Trump’s peace through strength doctrine—complete with maximum pressure sanctions and the Soleimani strike—Maher credits this stability to leaders who projected unapologetic power rather than endless apologies or pallets of cash. It’s a rare admission from the left that Trump’s foreign policy wasn’t the chaotic disaster the media painted, but a masterclass in deterrence that kept radical regimes in check without firing a single U.S. boot on the ground post-2017.
Yet Maher pivots to a critique: Trump promised to stand with Iran’s 2022 protesters chanting Woman, Life, Freedom against the mullahs’ brutality, but didn’t deliver the overt support they craved. Fair point—Trump’s rhetoric was fiery, but actions like arming allies and cyber ops against Tehran spoke louder than regime-change fantasies. This duality in Maher’s take underscores a timeless truth: real safety blooms from strength, not slogans. For the 2A community, it’s a stark parallel—America’s armed citizenry mirrors that Trump-era posture, deterring threats at home just as a fortified Israel and backed Sunni states did abroad. Weakness invites aggression; think Biden’s Afghan pullout unleashing chaos, or urban decay where concealed carry laws correlate with plummeting crime (FBI data shows right-to-carry states with 10-20% lower violent crime rates).
The implications for gun owners are profound: as global hotspots flare under softer leadership—Hamas’s October 7 massacre, Hezbollah’s rockets, Iran’s proxies raging—Maher’s nod to Trump’s success validates the 2A ethos of self-reliant deterrence. Politicians may waffle on protesters a world away, but an empowered populace ensures no foreign-inspired terror or domestic tyranny takes root here. If the Middle East thrives when bullies face armed resolve, imagine what unrestricted 2A rights could do for America’s streets. Maher’s half-praise is a gateway drug for libs to grasp why we cling to our rifles—because peace isn’t begged for; it’s imposed by the strong.
