On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher discussed Democratic Michigan U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed refusing to say Iran is a bigger threat than Israel and said that “You’re never going to get my vote if you don’t understand that fundamental difference” between a country that has elections and one that murders protesters.

Maher began by saying, “I think, as far as this issue goes, about Islam in America and candidates who are Muslim, the left is naive, and the right is hysterical, hysterical.”

Maher added, “He was asked, who’s the bigger threat to America, Iran or Israel? Okay, Israel just had an election. You may not like the outcome, but it was a real election. Iran doesn’t have those. They shoot protesters in the street. … You’re never going to get my vote if you don’t understand that fundamental difference.”

Axios co-founder and CEO Jim VandeHei then said, “Right, but there’s a big difference between being anti-Israel and then saying that someone is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood or that they’re going to take away your Christmas because they’re a terrorist in sheep’s clothing or whatever.” Which Maher agreed with.

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