On Maher, Rob Reiner Equates Tea Party to Hitler: ‘All They're Selling is Fear and Anger and That's All Hitler Sold’

Prefacing his remarks by proposing “you never get into a political discussion unless you bring the word Hitler in. You have to have Hitler, so let's put Hitler out there,” as if that caveat lessened the vulgarity of his impending comparison, on Friday night’s Real Time actor/director/writer Rob Reiner (IMDb page) contended all the Tea Party needs to match Adolph Hitler is a charismatic leader:

He wasn’t a majority guy, but he was charismatic and they were having bad economic times – just like we are now – people were out of work, they needed jobs and a guy came along and rallied the troops. My fear is that the Tea Party gets a charismatic leader, because all they're selling is fear and anger and that's all Hitler sold. “I’m angry and I’m frightened and you should hate that guy over there.”

“Right,” Bill Maher chirped in as Reiner, to applause from HBO's Los Angeles audience, declared: “And that’s what they’re doing.”

(Apparently, that means he at least doesn’t consider Sarah Palin to be a Hitler-like charismatic leader.) Audio: MP3 clip.

Shortly before, as he sat between Nicole Wallace and ABC News White House reporter Jake Tapper as the panel discussed Christine O’Donnell’s supposed ignorance about how “separation of church and state” is in the First Amendment, Reiner denigrated Tea Party candidates: “They're selling stupidity, they’re selling stupidity and ignorance and I've never seen a group of people, I’ve never seen an election cycle with more ignorance than this one.”

Maher agreed: “You’re right. I have not either – much to my delight.”

From the Friday, October 22 Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO:

ROB REINER: You never get into a political discussion unless you bring the word Hitler in. You have to have Hitler, so let’s put Hitler out there. Here’s Hitler, okay? You have bad economic times, right? Hitler, by the way, never got more than 33 percent of the vote ever in Germany. You have bad economic times-

BILL MAHER: Well, he only had that one election, let’s be honest.

REINER: Yeah, right.

MAHER: Hitler never ran for re-election.

REINER: No, that’s true, that’s true.

MAHER: There was no 1937 election.

REINER: He wasn’t a majority guy, but he was charismatic and they were having bad economic times -- just like we are now – people were out of work, they needed jobs and a guy came along and rallied the troops. My fear is that the Tea Party gets a charismatic leader, because all they're selling is fear and anger and that's all Hitler sold. “I’m angry and I’m frightened and you should hate that guy over there.”

MAHER: Right.

REINER: And that’s what they’re doing.

(Audience applause)