Maher says anti-COVID lockdown advocates 'were right' and that Wuhan lab leak 'wasn't a conspiracy theory'

25 Jan 2026 By foxnews

Late-night host Bill Maher asserted that anti-COVID lockdown advocates who argued that closing schools for an extended period of time would cause more harm than good to children "were right," and that the Wuhan lab leak theory "wasn't a conspiracy theory" after all.

During Friday's episode of "Real Time," Maher said that years after the COVID pandemic finally came to a close, he's tired of hearing people make excuses for how dissenting voices were treated for speaking out against COVID policies like masking and lockdowns.

"I get it that we didn't know exactly what was happening at the beginning of COVID, and some mistakes were inevitable. But four years on, I'm tired of hearing, 'Well, we didn't know,'" he said. "No, we didn't. But some people guessed better than others. And the people who got it wrong don't seem to want to acknowledge that now."

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"Some people said closing schools for so long was pointless, and would cause much worse collateral damage to kids and they were right," Maher added.

Citing a 2021 article from the Daily Beast titled "Bill Maher Pushes Steve Bannon Wuhan Lab COVID Conspiracy," the "Real Time" host noted that coverage like this "was typical of the mainstream media at the time."

"Of course, it wasn't a conspiracy theory, and it wasn't owned by Steve Bannon," he asserted. "And now everyone, including the Biden administration, admits there's at least a 50-50 chance that the virus could have begun in the lab in Wuhan that was doing gain-of-function research on that virus. Duh. But I don't see a lot of retractions being printed."

Maher argued that "we did a lot of stupid things" during the COVID pandemic because "America never reacts. It only overreacts."

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"Ubers looked like those Orthodox Jews who wrap themselves in saran wrap in case their plane flies over a grave. We washed the mail. We played baseball in front of cardboard cutouts. And, ate in parking lots, or with inflatable dolls? They closed the ocean. We banged pots and pans to show our love for nurses and our hatred for people trying to get a baby to sleep," Maher said, listing off several other examples.

"And if you absolutely must go to the beach, for the sake of all that's holy, wear a mask. Outside? Because the last thing you would want to do when a disease is afoot is get fresh air and sunshine and vitamin D. No, much better to stay locked up, stressed out and day drinking," he added.

Maher also criticized what he described as an unwillingness at the time to acknowledge natural immunity as effective protection against the virus. He quipped that "if you do get COVID, remember, natural immunity is always the worst kind. So even if you've had the disease, you need a shot."

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Closing his thoughts, Maher argued the reason why "the powers that be never wanted a COVID commission" was because "a lot of dissenting opinions that were suppressed and ridiculed at the time have proven to be correct."

Expanding on that point, Maher argued that the country has failed to learn meaningful lessons from the pandemic, saying, "Gain of function research is still going on in labs. We're still torturing animals by raising our food and conditions ideal for viruses to make the leap to humans. Bird flu was just found in a goat, which means we're just one lonely farmer from the next pandemic. We handed out $4 trillion of free money, $280 billion of which was just flat-out stolen in what the AP called the greatest grift in U.S. History, and which started an inflationary spiral that we now blame on Biden."

"So we're going to bring back Trump? The guy who ignored COVID like it was the dinner check?" he asked.