Bill Maher Lures Adam Schiff Right Into Trap On Trump’s Justification For War In Iran

Bill Maher made Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff expose the Democratic Party’s apparent hypocrisy Friday regarding President Trump’s military actions in Iran.

At one point, Maher wanted to get Schiff‘s opinion on a statement made by the administration, saying, “‘The president has 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.

Adam Schiff falls right into Bill Maher’s trap as he criticizes a statement he thought was from Trump but was actually from Obama.

MAHER: “This statement from the administration: ‘The president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could… pic.twitter.com/5jg3wpdAQZ

— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) March 7, 2026

Maher then backed Schiff into a corner when he revealed that the statement was made by former President Barack Obama’s administration when the U.S. carried out military operations in Libya.

Schiff then backtracked and switched topics, saying, “Well, Obama made the argument initially that he could go into Syria without authorization,” Schiff said.

“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 went on to say. “But I respect the fact that was important to him, and the fact that he did not have the support of Congress meant that we weren’t going to go forward.”

In May of 2011, Cato noted that Obama’s military actions were illegal according to Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution, which delegates the power to declare war to Congress. Cato argues that the reasons given by Obama’s administration for its military actions were not sufficient since Libya didn’t pose a direct threat to the U.S. (RELATED: How Rubio Prepared Congress For US Campaign Against Iran)

In June of 2011, Congress held a vote on the War Powers Resolution to decide whether to remove America’s military from Libya or to keep them there. Schiff — a Representative at the time — voted against the resolution to keep America’s military presence in the region.

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