Bill Maher Defends the Trad Dad on ‘Real Time’

Last night on HBO‘s Real Time with Bill Maher, kicked off Father’s Day weekend by calling for the return of Traditional, or “Trad,” Dad in his latest “New Rules” segment.

“Not all the way back to the 1950s psychopath who never said he loved you and hit you with a belt, no,” Maher clarified. “But just back to the dad who believes that ‘because I said so’ is a perfectly legitimate answer to any question a child may dad.”

Although Maher began the segment admitting that he is child-free, he still had several opinions on modern fatherhood and today’s youth. The comedian made it clear that while parents overindulging their kids is by no means a new or recent phenomenon, it’s an issue that only seems to be getting worse in America.

“Sex dolls set more boundaries than today’s parents,” Maher quipped. He later juxtaposed this idea of the softer modern father by sharing the tenets of the Trad Dad. Trad Dads lay down the law, don’t negotiate, and say things like “be quiet the adults are talking” and “it’s not all about you.” But more than anything, Maher said, “a Trad Dad knows he’s your parent, not your friend.”

Maher went on to praise the Japanese reality TV show Old Enough!, in which young children are sent out on their very first solo errands before knocking our own nation’s parents for tracking or leashing kids. He added that when such “uber-liberal bullshit” goes too far, it opens the door to negative counter-reactions, like teen boys in need of role models “turning to meathead misogynist influencers like Andrew Tate.”

Maher wrapped the segment up by declaring we should give “dear old dad the gift of being dear old dad” this Father’s Day. “And also, shut up, he’s trying to watch the game.”

You can watch the clip above and catch new episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher on Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO or streaming on Max.