Politics

About My Experience On HBO’s ‘Real Time’ This Weekend…

Matt K. Lewis Senior Contributor
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So what was it like being on HBO’s Real Time this weekend? I’ve had root canals that got off to a better start. Seriously, when a host of a show begins with the premise that your media outlet (and by extension, you) are somehow responsible for a horrific shooting, you know you’re in for a good time.

This is especially true when you’re ideologically outnumbered three-to-one. When this happens, you have two choices: Be a patsy; let them impugn your media outlet (and conservatism, in general) — or fight back — which will, no doubt, make you look mean and less likable on what is ostensibly a comedy show.

I chose the latter approach. In hindsight, however, I’m not sure anyone (on the set) comprehended the thrust of my argument, which was this: That it’s actually more absurd to blame The Daily Caller for a racially-inspired shooting than it would be to blame Bill Maher for a church shooting. (After all, Maher has made a documentary mocking religion; I’ve never made a documentary attacking Black folks.)

Predictably, this attempt at reductio ad absurdum fell on deaf ears. When it’s three-against-one, such attempts are a fool’s errand; it’s not like one of the three liberals on the show is going to stop and say, “Yeah, blaming center-right media for this seems crazy.” Nor is anyone going to say, “You know what, although race — not religion — was the primary motivation here, Matt makes a valid point about dangerous rhetoric. There was a shooting at the Family Research Council — and before the AME church shooting there was that shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin…”

If you’ve never done TV — or if you’ve only played “home” games — it might be hard to appreciate this situation. It’s really hard to predict how these things are going to go down. When I was booked to go on this show, I had no idea the hot topic sweeping the nation would be gun control and confederate flags. Had this horrible tragedy not occurred, I would have likely spent the segment talking about Rachel Dolezal and Caitlyn Jenner. Believe it or not, it was a simpler world a week ago.

Would I do it again? Absolutely! Nobody goes on that show without realizing the deck will be stacked against them. (Warning: Unless you’re a liberal, the deck will be stacked against you.)  But you can go into the lion’s den and fight every once in a while, or you can stay on the sideline — or just preach to the choir. The choice is yours.

So yes, I hope to go back on. After all, I’ve got a book to sell. (Pre-order my forthcoming book today!)