Following Bill Maher‘s statement on Larry King Live on Wednesday that Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman is gay, and the subsequent censorship of the segment by CNN, Mr. Mehlman has now suddenly resigned from his post. According to his people, he’s been “spinning a gerbil wheel” and is just really tired.
Yes, life in the Republican closet can be exhausting.
The original CNN transcript:
Bill Maher: A lot of the chiefs of staff, the people who really run the underpinnings of the Republican Party, are gay. I don’t want to mention names, but I will Friday night…
Larry King:You will Friday night?
BM: Well, there’s a couple of big people who I think everyone in Washington knows who run the Republican…
LK: You will name them?
BM: Well, I wouldn’t be the first. I’d get sued if I was the first. Ken Mehlman. Ok, there’s one I think people have talked about. I don’t think he’s denied it when he’s been, people have suggested, he doesn’t say…
LK: I never heard that. I’m walking around in a fog. I never…Ken Mehlman? I never heard that. But the question is…
BM: Maybe you don’t go to the same bathhouse I do, Larry.
Watch the full, uncensored clip from Larry King here on the Huffington Post. (via Queerty)
It will also be interesting to see in future incidents like this if YouTube would be named in a lawsuit for allowing potentially slanderous comments to be broadcast.
CNN probably censored the original comment because the network could also be named in a lawsuit along with Bill Maher.