Bill Maher, Charlie Sykes, and Carryn Owens

I saw this on Twitter.

@redsteeze Did you see Bill Maher: insulting Mrs Owens, along with Joy Reid and Charley Sykes? My God. Insulted Van Jones and Katy Tur too!

— judy (@judy060709) March 4, 2017

I went to YouTube and found the exchange.

Note: The video was removed from YouTube as I expected, but Maher did post a bit of it.

pic.twitter.com/TEVM0qmkBD

— Bill Maher (@billmaher) March 8, 2017

I didn't want to believe that Charlie Sykes would criticize and mock that incredible moment during Trump's address when Navy SEAL Ryan Owens and his widow were honored by the president of the United States and both houses of Congress.

Well, you can see for yourself. I'm not sure how long the video will stay up on YouTube, but this is not good.

Sykes agrees with Maher's criticism of Carryn Owens' appearance at Trump's address to a joint session of Congress. Both Sykes and Maher were disturbed that pundits and the public "fell for this."

Why can't these people leave Carryn Owens alone? Why can't they pick at Trump for something else, anything else, except that moment during the speech?

CHARLIE SYKES: I've got to make a confession, because when I was watching that in the moment, I was moved by it because she was real.

BILL MAHER: Moved by her.

SYKES: Right. I was moved because she was real. And I woke up the next morning thinking, OK, you know, this was a great moment, but then realizing the incredible cynicism of it.

MAHER: Thank you.

SYKES: And I do think that there is almost a battered pundit syndrome going on here where all the pundits are like, 'Hey, so daddy didn't come, you know, our abusive daddy didn't come home drunk and beat us tonight. He's the best father ever!'

Later, Sykes said Trump turned the extended ovation into a reality show.

SYKES: Then he turns it into a reality TV show by saying, 'You just set a record for applause.' So, I mean, really, how deeply crass was that moment?

I am genuinely sorry I saw that tweet and found the clip from Maher's show.

I knew Maher was quick to call out Carryn Owens because she "allowed herself to be used as his prop like that," but I didn't need to get it from Sykes.

Don't they realize THEY ARE DOING THE SAME THING when they use that moment of such deep emotion, her moment Tuesday night, to slam Trump?

If they believe Trump exploited her as a prop, they need to acknowledge that they are exploiting her as well by using her to attack Trump.

For the love of God, why can't they have the decency to leave the widow alone? Why can't they leave her out of their whining and joking?

Of course, I expect Maher to be a jerk; but after all his work with the Honor Flight and veterans, it's tough to see the lack of respect Sykes showed Carryn Owens and her fallen husband, Ryan.