Obama Adviser Backs Out of Bill Maher Appearance

Obama senior campaign strategist David Axelrod was reportedly scheduled to make an appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher at some point in the next few weeks, but it looks like the campaign has decided to distance itself from the comedian.

The press secretary for the president's re-election campaign, Ben LaBolt, told Politico on Wednesday night that Axelrod was "not scheduled to go on at this time." While noticeably vague, those comments suggest the door is still open for an Axelrod visit to the HBO show in the future, but that he's in no hurry to sit down with Maher at a time when the late-night host has become a target of the right.

Maher donated $1 million to pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action earlier this yaer. But more recently the late-night host has been a target of the conservative backlash over the reaction to Rush Limbaugh's infamous "slut" remark. Fox News' Greta Van Susteren and other critics point to what they see as a "double standard" in criticism of Limbaugh's remarks from the left when Maher has also used derogatory language towards women.

The remarks in question include Maher calling Sarah Palin a "cunt" and a "dumb twat." Maher's defenders, including Priorities USA Action co-founder Bill Burton, say that the comedian uses the terms in the context of satire, while Limbaugh does not. And Tuesday on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart pointed out what he characterized as the false equivalency of comparing Limbaugh's attacks against a Georgetown Law student (intended as metonymy for all women who use contraception) to Maher's remarks about a former vice presidential candidate.

Earlier this month, Limbaugh himself received an unlikely nod of support from Maher during the blowback from his comments about Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke. Maher asked liberals to accept Limbaugh's apology, and criticized the "intimidation" caused by an advertiser boycott of the conservative's radio talk show.

Maher's not the only comedian facing conservative pressure over comments they've made about women. Over the weekend, Louis C.K. Pulled out of his hosting gig at the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association annual dinner after Van Susteren called for a boycott of the event based on comments the comedian made about Sarah Palin.