Bill Maher and Michael Moore were not moved by Donald Trump's tribute to a deceased Navy SEAL and his surviving wife during the President's congressional speech on Tuesday night.
"I wasn't crazy about the response to that," Maher told Chris Matthews over the phone on a special late-night episode of "Hardball" on MSNBC (above). "I wish she hadn't allowed herself to be used as his prop like that. And I don't see any great courage here. Where is the courage? Who wouldn't stand and applaud for a war widow?"
Carryn Owens, wife of Navy Special Operator, Senior Chief William 'Ryan' Owens, teared up while receiving a standing ovation from the lawmakers and political elite in attendance.
“Ryan died as he lived,” Trump said. “A warrior and a hero, battling against terrorism and securing our nation.”
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“People are actually being hurt,” Maher said. “They are being detained at the borders, families are being separated, rivers are being polluted. The bad stuff is really going on.”
Moore, an activist filmmaker who has been an outspoken Trump critic since the election, joined the broadcast later on to declare " whether it was a valuable mission or not, Trump was clearly using Owens."
Moore said the soldier's "death came as a result of a dinner Trump had with his son-in-law and a political hack."
“That's why she's there, as sort of an 'f-- you' to the people who are criticizing him for this,” Moore said. “And this poor woman, this widow who has lost her husband, she is in desperate grief right now. And to use that to put another notch on his belt—and what is he thinking about? 'My ratings. Record Applause. I'm going to get an Emmy for this, most applause for a dead soldier on my watch!'”
Watch Moore speak in the video below.
