Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) walked right int a rhetorical trap set by comedian and HBO host Bill Maher on Friday, criticizing a statement he believed came from President Donald Trump about the military action in Iran only to find out that it was former President Barack Obama who said it in defense of his own actions in Libya.
Schiff was clearly taken aback when Maher informed him the statement — regarding whether or not the administration could carry out military strikes without congressional approval — had come from the Obama administration regarding Libya, and quickly backpedaled.
WATCH:
Bill Maher sets up Sen. Adam Schiff by reading a vague quote justifying military action. Schiff blasts it as “totally vague,” assuming it’s about Trump’s Iran strikes.
Maher then reveals: “Okay, cause that’s from Obama about Libya.”pic.twitter.com/PqNdpCeDqA
— Brandon Straka #WalkAway (@BrandonStraka) March 7, 2026
“This statement from the administration: ‘The president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest.’ That’s too vague for you?” Maher asked Schiff.
“Totally vague,” Schiff agreed.
Maher dropped the other shoe then, saying, “OK. Because that’s from Obama about Libya.”
Schiff, obviously set back on his heels, scrambled to reassess and landed on Obama’s actions with regard to Syria. ”
Well, Obama made the argument, um, initially that he could go into Syria without an authorization,” the senator said while trying to gather himself, adding that he opposed the move.
“I and many others pushed back on that argument. Ultimately, he did not go forward with going after Assad — even though Assad was gassing his own people — because he thought he might lose the vote in Congress,” Schiff said. “But I respect the fact that, uh, that was important to [Obama], and the fact that he did not have the support of Congress meant that we weren’t going to go forward.”
Schiff opted not address the source of the initial statement — the action in Libya — where the Obama administration engaged in military action that lasted for months and was challenged by Congress as an “illegal” and “unauthorized” action. The House voted against authorizing the action in Libya in June of 2011, and a bipartisan group of ten House members filed suit against the Obama administration for bypassing Congress in order to pursue military action without approval.