This article originally apepared on EW.
Bill Maher conducted a little experiment on HBO’s Real Time Friday night to answer the question: How would Republicans react if Barack Obama had made comments like the ones uttered by President Trump?
The comedian and late-night host brought out to the stage Obama impersonator Reggie Brown to deliver some of Trump’s more controversial remarks, like POTUS’ “I like people who weren’t captured” jab at Sen. John McCain.
“He’s here to help Republicans test their theory that they’d be cool with it if some of the crap that’s come out of Trump’s mouth was said by Obama,” Maher prefaced. “And I stress, this might not be the real Obama, but these are really Trump’s words — every one of them verbatim.”
Maher reminded his audience how some members of the GOP criticized Obama’s military strategy and how they claimed he was “too full of himself” while in office. So Brown recited these past Trump statements: “I’m speaking with myself, No. 1, because I have a very good brain, and I’ve said a lot of things … Sorry, losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest, and you all know it.”
If Obama claimed he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not lose voters, Maher said The New York Post would run the headline, “Black Man Threatens Shooting Spree, Gunned Down By Police.” Brown had to force himself to keep it together after quoting Trump’s claim that he invented the phrase “prime the pump.”
Maher concluded, “Look, I don’t know the exact definition of white privilege, but being able to talk about grabbing p—ies and how big your d— is and still getting elected president, that’s gotta come close.”
Watch the full segment above.