Former Alabama Democratic Rep. Artur Davis is criticizing the Alabama Democratic Party for hosting its controversial “evening with Bill Maher” reception this weekend.
Davis told The Daily Caller that it isn’t smart for the Alabama Democratic Party to associate itself with HBO’s Maher, an inflammatory comedian with a history of making offensive comments about women, while trying to appeal to a broader electorate.
“The event has turned into the circus it always promised to be,” Davis told TheDC on Friday, “but there is a deeper point here: at a time when Alabama Democrats desperately need to reconnect to conservatives and moderates, they are hugging a figure who ridicules the sensibilities and beliefs of most Alabamians on a daily basis.”
Added Davis: “It’s not just that Maher offends women — which he routinely does — but it’s the fact that his worldview has absolutely nothing in common with the sentiments of the people who decide Alabama elections.”
The event has been a mess for the state party since it was revealed that it would hold a reception for donors before Maher performs a standup show at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville on Saturday.
Conservatives in Alabama — including the leader of the state Republican party and women’s groups — have called on the party to cancel the event.
The state party has refused: they have said that while members will attend Maher’s performance, the comedian won’t actually attend their reception. (RELATED: Democratic base split on immigration, says former Rep. Artur Davis)
After an uproar about the event spread across the Internet, the Democratic Party scrubbed a page on its website that had featured an invitation advertising the event.
The invitation doesn’t explicitly say that Maher will attend the reception, but it implies that he will, by calling the event an “evening with Bill Maher.”
“Tickets are $100 and include admission to the pre-event Chairman’s reception and prime seating at the performance,” the invitation reads.
Maher’s sexist statements about conservative women include calling former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin a “c*nt” and a “dumb twat” on separate occasions.
Here’s a screen shot of the website before it was scrubbed:
