Later, Never-Trump conservative guest Tom Nichols said: “I’m not wishing for a recession, but if the farmers want to keep touching the hot stove [of Trump’s backfiring trade policies]…”

“Well, you should be,” Maher interrupted, “because that will definitely get him unelected.”

That comment prompted pushback from Scaramucci: “But Bill, you don’t really want a recession.”

“I really do,” Maher said firmly. “We have survived many recessions. We can’t survive another Donald Trump term,” he added, after which the audience erupted in cheers.