Comedian and podcast host Bill Maher said the Jan. 6 rioters wanted to “break shit” because they’re “getting squeezed” and are pissed off.
Maher was joined by KISS frontman Gene Simmons on his Monday episode of “Club Random.”
The two were discussing current politics, with Maher saying “there’s so many people in this country who I just think they’re just so pissed off and I can’t blame them, there’s many reasons.”
“Both sides,” Simmons said.
‘Yes. They’re just pissed off and they want to break shit, like the Capitol thing, they just want to break shit and you kind of can’t blame them because they are getting squeezed.” (RELATED: ‘I Could Give A F*ck’: Gene Simmons, Bill Maher Spar After Maher Says Phrase ‘A China Man’ Is Offensive)
“You can blame them because the people who don’t agree with them use that as a tool and say ‘see, they’re burning our cities,’ whatever it is. Progressives or ethnic or religious groups. Look at that, they’re burning our cities. That’s evil. No, you can complain about that because images are the most important thing initially,” Simmons responded.
Simmons then brought up Tiananmen Square and said no one remembers the “political struggle” between the man in the tank versus the man standing in front of it but that the image was so powerful it swayed impressions.
“So I’m saying that when good intentioned people come into cities and break things and burn things, you understand where the anger comes from but the effect visually is the most negative thing you can have,” Simmons added.