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Bill Maher Real Time June 16

When Bill Maher spoke one on one to Breitbart editor-in-chief Alex Marlow at the top of Fridays episode of Real Time, they had plenty of agreement on the Public Theaters Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar featuring the graphic assassination of a Trump-like title character with ridiculous yellow wig and an over-long red tie.

Maher brought up the furor while talking about attacks on free speech, but in a twist, he seemed to agree with those who say the play went too far. Now Im fond of saying to Republicans all the time now if Obama did it but really, Maher said, if Obama was Julius Caesar and he got stabbed, I think liberals would be angry about that.

Oh absolutely, Marlow agreed. It would be bedlam in the media.

I dont think they should have Trump playing Julius Caesar, I dont, Maher added.

Also Read: 'Julius Caesar' Theater Review: Trump and the Bard Both Assassinated in Bloody Debacle

Theres just one problem with Mahers statement: You dont have to imagine a production of Julius Caesar featuring a President Obama version of the title character.

It happened in 2012, at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, in collaboration with the Acting Company. So, how angry did liberals get over that production?

Not even a little bit.

Also Read: Donald Trump Once Donated to Public Theater's New York Shakespeare Festival

The reaction was instead mainly a collective shrug. Critics werent blown away, but they by and large liked the idea in theory.

For one example, heres what MSPMag said about portraying Caesar as a lanky Black man. It fits, sort of. Like Caesar, Obama rose to power on a tide of public goodwill; like Caesar, there were many in government who doubted Obamas leadership abilities; and now that Obamas first term has failed to live up to the messianic hype, there are plenty of people who for the good of the country, you understand, not their own glory want to take Obama down.

Few conservative groups commented on the production at the time, but those that did praised it, like The American Conservative.

Also Read: Delta Airlines, Bank of America Dump NYC's Public Theater Over 'Graphic' Trumpified 'Julius Caesar'

And while high-profile sponsors of New York Citys Public Theater including Delta Airlines and Bank of America withdrew their support and condemned the Trumpified Julius Caesar the Guthrie production faced no such blowback.

And as The Washington Post noted earlier this weekin 2012 Delta was a sponsor of the Guthrie Theater in 2012, and as of today remains on the list of the Theaters corporate sponsors, credited with giving hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

As for liberals, you guessed it there was no outrage to speak of, and certainly none we were able to locate via Google searches today.

There was certainly no national uproar. Liberal groups did not call for the theater to lose funding, or accuse the producers of implying threats against the President. Critics didnt slam the play. And the production didnt become a national controversy condemned by citizens, pundits, and politicians, whilebleeding sponsors.

Andnow we know how liberals would have reacted to an Obama version of Julius Caesar.

Since becoming president, Donald Trump has had a lot more occasion to talk about American history. He likes to remind people that "you know, I'm, like, a smart person," but he doesn't always seem to get it right. Here are 11 instances of Trump and his surrogates giving weirdo history lessons.

1. On Frederick Douglass During a Black History Month breakfast in February, after mentioning several African American historical figures Trump said, "Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who's done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice." We're not saying Trump didn't know who Douglass was, but despite his remarks, the famed abolitionist died in 1895.

2. On Trumps Civil War Battle Golf Course Trumps Virginia golf course on the Potomac River includes a plaque stating the location was the site of a Civil War battle. Many great American soldiers, both of the North and South, died at this spot, the inscription reads. The casualties were so great that the water would turn red and thus became known as The River of Blood. Historians say nothing significant took place at the site.

3. On Abraham Lincolns Political Party Trump brought up Abraham Lincoln at the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner in March. "Great president. Most people don't even know he was a Republican," Trump said. "Does anyone know? Lot of people don't know that."

Lincoln, of course, is famously the first Republican president, although the party has changed significantly, both geographically and ideologically, from when it was started in 1854. Trump went on to suggest, Let's take an ad, let's use one of those PACs, to educate people about Lincolns link to the party. He apparently was unaware the GOP very often refers to itself as the Party of Lincoln.

4. On His Electoral College Victory Since winning the 2016 presidential election, Trump and his team have repeatedly called the win the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan. It wasnt. In fact, only two presidents have received fewer than Trumps 304 electoral votes since 1972 Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. And Trumps 304 is less than both of Barack Obamas wins, at 365 in 2008 and 332 in 2012.

5. On His Inauguration Crowd Trump and his surrogates have maintained he had the biggest inauguration crowd in history, citing both the people on the ground at the National Mall in Washington D.C., and watching on TV and online. When I looked at the numbers that have come in from all of the various sources, we had the biggest audience in the history of inaugural speeches, Trump told ABC News. Going by the crowd and TV numbers, though, Trumps inauguration crowd was definitely not the biggest ever.

Nielsen ratings for the inauguration put TV viewership at about 31 million, or 19 percent fewer than the number who tuned in for Obamas inauguration in 2009, The Independent reports. And a PBS timelapse video shows the National Mall was never full during the entire event, while shots of Obamas inaugurations show the mall packed. Trumps inauguration might make up the difference with online streaming viewers, but those numbers arent known to the public or the media.

6. On Andrew Jackson and the Civil War In a Sirius XM interview with a reporter from the Washington Examiner, Trump said President Andrew Jackson would have stopped the Civil War. I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little later you wouldn't have had the Civil War," Trump said. "He was a very tough person but he had a big heart. He was really angry that he saw with regard to the Civil War, he said 'There's no reason for this.'" Jackson, of course, died in 1845 16 years before the Civil War began.

Trump took to Twitterto clarify his comments on Jackson. President Andrew Jackson, who died 16 years before the Civil War started, saw it coming and was angry. Would never have let it happen! In fact, Jackson, a slave owner, probably would have fallen on the Confederacys pro-slavery side.

7. On the Civil War, Why People don't realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why? Trump continued during the same interview. People don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out? Of course, plenty of people have asked the Civil War, why? The answer: slavery.

8. On Medieval Times (Not the Restaurant) In February 2016, Trump explained his view of torture and terrorism in an interview on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. We are living in a time that's as evil as any time that there has ever been, Trump said. You know, when I was a young man, I studied Medieval times. That's what they did, they chopped off heads. Trump went on to say he would authorize measures beyond waterboarding when asked if the US would chop off heads under Trump.

9. On Sweden and What Happened There Trump brought up immigration in Europe during a rally in February 2017. He appeared to mention some immigration-related event last night in Sweden that hadnt actually happened. "We've got to keep our country safe," he said. "You look at what's happening in Germany. You look at what's happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They're having problems like they never thought possible.

Trump later clarified the statement, yet again on Twitter. He said he wasnt referring to a news event that happened last night in Sweden, but rather, a Fox News story. My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden, he wrote.

10. On being treated the most unfairly Delivering a speech to the graduating class at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Trump said, "No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly." That apparently includes politicians whohave actually been assassinated, which seemslike it should count for being treated "unfairly." Maybe he means he's been "unfairly" given more passes on bad behavior, like admitting sexual assault, than any other politician.

12. On the Panama Canal In a meeting with Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, Trump seemed to kind of, sort of take credit for the Panama Canal. "The Panama Canal is doing quite well. I think we did a good job building it, right a very good job," Trump said, to which Varela answered, "Yeah, about 100 years ago." While what Trump meant by "we" was probably "the United States," as Varela's comment suggests, there's still an air of Trump glomming on to past accomplishments that had nothing to do with him.

13. Kellyanne Conway On the Bowling Green Massacre Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway invented a terrorist attack that never happened when she mentioned the Bowling Green Massacre in a February interview with MSNBCs Chris Matthews. Conway was attempting to justify Trumps ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries, and claimed the media hadnt covered the attack. As the Washington Post reports, Conway also mentioned the massacre, which never took place, in two other interviews.

14. Sean Spicer On the Holocaust White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer got into trouble when he compared Syrias Bashar al-Assad and Adolf Hitler when discussing Trumps decision to bomb a Syrian airfield in response to a gas attack against civilians. ...Someone as despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons, Spicer said during a daily press briefing. Of course, the use of gas to murder millions of German Jews and other minority groups from within Germany and Europe was central to the Holocaust.

Spicer went on to clarify that he did, in fact, know about the Holocaust. "I think when you come to sarin gas, there was no -- he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing," Spicer said. "I mean, there was clearly, I understand your point, thank you. Thank you, I appreciate that. There was not in the, he brought them into the Holocaust center, I understand that." The historically accurate term for "Holocaust center" is "concentration camp," and at least 200,000 people killed in them were Jewish German citizens.

From the Bowling Green Massacre to the Civil War, you might call it alternative history

Since becoming president, Donald Trump has had a lot more occasion to talk about American history. He likes to remind people that "you know, I'm, like, a smart person," but he doesn't always seem to get it right. Here are 11 instances of Trump and his surrogates giving weirdo history lessons.

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'Real Time' Fact Check: How Liberals Really Reacted to Obama ...