Of all the media celebrities on the left, many of us at Twitchy (including this writer) often go easiest on Bill Maher. The HBO host does have some moments of clarity, mostly when he is calling out the woke insanity -- like transgenderism or support for Hamas -- from his fellow lefties.
At the end of the day, however, Maher is a pretty hardcore leftist himself. He has a terminal, incurable case of TDS, and he is a devoted acolyte of the climate cult. His only problem is that, like many of the other climate nutjobs who worship at the altar of Al Gore and Greta Thunberg, Maher doesn't even understand basic science as it relates to the topic.
The weekend, Maher tried to dunk on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum (who he called Doug 'Burn 'Em' because that's high comedy, apparently) for saying that carbon is not a pollutant.
We'll set aside for a moment the fact that carbon is the most fundamental building block of all life on Earth. Because what was even funnier is that in his attempted dig, Maher demonstrated that he does not know the difference between carbon dioxide -- essential for all plant life on the planet -- and carbon monoxide. Watch:
Bill Maher: “Doug Burgum, he’s the interior secretary. Listen to this… He said, CO2, carbon, was never a pollutant. He said when we breathe, we emit CO2.”
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) February 14, 2026
⁰“Okay, Doug, you know what? Let’s try this little experiment. Um, tonight when you get home, go in the garage, close the… pic.twitter.com/DyG8wK4hR7
... close the door, turn the car on, and let’s see if carbon is a pollutant, okay?'
Umm ... who wants to tell him?
Whoops - he does not know the difference between carbon dioxide and monoxide. https://t.co/Kv1v5hl54d
— Matt Ridley (@mattwridley) February 15, 2026
Recommended
What makes this rake stomp all the more epic, of course, is how confident and smug Maher is in his vastly superior scientific knowledge over the Secretary of the Interior of the United States.
Except he forgot the one pesky detail: adding that extra oxygen atom makes all the difference in the world.
Nothing says smug elitist better than pretending to be sophisticated in understanding science then showing the world, in reality, you are just as dumb as @AOC ...
— Tony Shaffer 🇺🇲☢️ (@tspooky) February 15, 2026
This is one of the best self owns by an elitist idiot ever- @billmaher is literally AOC stupid...
Co2 is plant food.… https://t.co/5oEC6eANWs
There's stupid, and then there is AOC stupid. You never want to fall into the latter category, as Maher just did.
You have “Egg on your face” Bill Maher! Nothing worse than when you think you have the last laugh only to find out the laugh is on you. pic.twitter.com/zHQ6E2TtND
— Lisa (@lalalainsd) February 14, 2026
For someone who pretends to be as even-minded and rational as Maher often does, it's hilarious to see him throw rationality (and basic middle school science) out the window whenever the topic of the weather comes up.
— John Russo (@JohnRus82726037) February 14, 2026
Oh, no! Think of all the 'pollutants' Maher ingests whenever he has a carbonated beverage.
We hope he'll be OK.
That’s not CO2, Bill. Did no one on your writing staff know this either? https://t.co/BGVl62V7jF
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) February 14, 2026
That makes it even funnier. It's not just Maher who failed this basic chemistry test. It was an entire roomful of writers as well.
All of whom were inhaling and exhaling carbon dioxide as they were coming up with this banger.
1. Carbon isn't a gas.
— Shipwreckedcrew (@shipwreckedcrew) February 14, 2026
2. The fatal component of car exhaust is carbon monoxide -- CO -- not carbon dioxide, CO2. https://t.co/ZicyFmrwU3
We're almost certain that Maher is not aware of fact number one above, in addition to obviously not knowing fact number two.
Humans emit Carbon DIOXIDE...harmless plant food.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 14, 2026
Cars emit Carbon MONOXIDE, a totally different a colorless, odorless, tasteless, poisonous gas, often called the "invisible killer."
The fact Maher doesn't understand the difference between these things says it all! https://t.co/Ei2pXPdnwE pic.twitter.com/BrUKoB1D3O
It reminds us of the time that Jon Stewart tried to 'school' Bill O'Reilly on the economy -- while not knowing the difference between the national debt and the budget deficit.
The more you dig the worse it gets pic.twitter.com/hpXTiYhkNL
— Andy Masley (@AndyMasley) February 11, 2026
OOF.
Stewart should have been banned from any political commentary ever after that embarrassment.
It's as Ronald Reagan famously said, 'The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so.'
Prime example of the morons in legacy media. No grasp of science at all. https://t.co/jVUHWTtbNF
— Neal Asher (@nealasher) February 15, 2026
And then they all want to lecture everyone else. All of whom, by the way, have a MUCH smaller 'carbon footprint' than they do.
“Water is a pollutant”
— GeroDoc (@doc_gero) February 14, 2026
“That’s not true”
“If you don’t believe water is a pollutant, stick your head in a tub of it and inhale” https://t.co/WNy0IraNbP
LOL.
Yes, that is Maher's profoundly ignorant logic here.
"All gases except pure oxygen are pollutants!!!" 🙄
— Morgan Rhinegelt (@rhinegelt) February 14, 2026
Fill the garage with pure nitrogen (78% of the air) and we die too.
We could also remind Maher that if he breathed 100 percent oxygen (the one gas he seems to love), he would also likely die.
It's called oxygen toxicity. It can destroy your lungs and central nervous system.
— B_Dog_33_ (@B_Dog_33_) February 14, 2026
The other trouble with our 'liberal friends,' as Reagan called them, is that they pretend this is all so simple while not bothering to learn any of the fundamentals, let alone the complexities.
If we just raise everyone's taxes and ban the basic drivers of our economy, everything will be fine, right?
More likely, it would be like forcing millions of people around the world to jam into that garage with a running car.
We doubt that Maher will ever acknowledge his ignorance. To do so would destroy his smug worldview that he is better than the rest of us.
But maybe before he tries to lecture us again, he should consult with a 10-year-old, who likely knows more about carbon, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide than he has ever troubled himself to learn.
============================================
Related:
Marco Rubio Shows AOC How It's Done With Inspiring Speech In Munich
Calm Down, Unknown AWFL: Sarah Spain 'Vomited' Seeing the 'Demon' JD Vance at the Olympics
Kamala 2.0? AOC Faceplants In Germany While Trying to Answer a Question About China and Taiwan
They've Gone and Done It AGAIN: Abi Spanberger's Grilling Photo Op Is Peak Dem Cringe
INVASION! One Simple Graph Demonstrates How Dems Tried to Destroy America With Illegal Immigration
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.
Help us continue to expose their left-wing bias by reading news you can trust. Join Twitchy VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member