We know that HBO’s Bill Maher is a no-holds-barred kind of guy. Civility doesn’t seem to be in his DNA, although every now and then he surprises us. He certainly did so when he defended Laura Ingraham from David Hogg’s boycott.

But then he reverts to his typical vulgar mode, like he did when TX Rep. Beto O’Rourke showed up on Real Time with Bill Maher last month. O’Rourke, as you recall, is challenging Ted Cruz for his Senate seat.

While O’Rourke was bragging about his campaign having “out-raised Ted Cruz by more than a million dollars” this year, Maher interjected this little nugget:

“Well, don’t forget he’s a giant asshole.”

And O’Rourke responded, “That’s true.”

Here’s a video of the exchange. I’ve cued it up for you, so you don’t have to listen to Beto go on, and on, and on:

However, now O’Rourke seems to be having second thoughts about affirming the image of Ted Cruz as a reviled body part. So in an interview with Frank Bruni of the New York Times, published Saturday, Beto O’Rourke said that he really doesn’t think Cruz is a Giant Asshole after all. At least not “publicly,” whatever that may mean:

“I think I was just moving the conversation along. Anyhow, I don’t think that Ted Cruz is an asshole.”

“You don’t?”

“I certainly don’t think that publicly.”

Well, bully for him. Beto tried to channel his inner John Kerry, and thought that maybe it wasn’t such a good look for him after all:

“I was for Ted Cruz being a Giant Asshole before I was against Ted Cruz being a Giant Asshole>’

Then there’s Ted — not Cruz, but Nugent. He recently showed up on InfoWars with Alex Jones in a, well, typical off-the-wall Nugent interview. In it he compared Democrats, the media, and academia to ‘rabid coyotes.’ Then he said, “Every time you see one, shoot one.”

And, on cue, progressive media went bonkers.

Mother Jones wrote in a headline, “Ted Nugent Calls for Shooting Half Our Government.”

Would-be gun grabber Shannon Watts tweeted this:

This video is absolutely insane. Daily reminder that Ted Nugent is an @NRA Board member… https://t.co/tNyMnu0UdR

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) April 7, 2018

But was Nugent really calling for shooting Democrats? Or merely using an outlandish metaphor?

Who knows? This is Ted Nugent we’re talking about here. Frankly the “Motor City Madman” has never been my cup of tea. He doesn’t speak for me as a conservative, and I’ve never liked his music, either. As far as Nugent goes, I merely roll my eyes at his comments and mutter to myself “this is why we can’t have nice things.”

But Nugent isn’t seeking office, is he? Nugent running his mouth isn’t going to make too many folks give up their guns or their NRA memberships. He’ll just trigger the progressives, which is what he really wants. That’s all. Troll level, unlocked.

But Beto O’Rourke is running for Senate. And he must now be having second thoughts about affirming Bill Maher’s ‘asshole’ crack about Ted Cruz, since he walked back that comment — in the NYT, no less. Oh, he may position himself as a Kennedyesque Texan, complete with bushy hair and toothy grin. And he may have outraised Cruz early this year, much of that money coming from a Bernie Sanders campaign group. But Cruz still has more money in his war chest; moreover, Texas hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate in decades. President Trump won Texas in 2016, too, with almost 53% of the vote.

Not only that, but last month O’Rourke told a crowd at a SXSW event in Austin that AR-15 rifles shouldn’t be sold to civilians. He also said he doesn’t “give a shit” what the NRA thinks.

Yeah, that’ll fly in Texas.

So will Beto’s little slip-of-the-lip cost him? Who knows? But both he and Bill Maher are yet another reason why fed-up people elected Trump to the Presidency.