Bill Maher makes extraordinary joke about Trump being raped in prison amid rant about America having higher lock-up rate than Russia

Bill Maher joked that “we’ve all imagined it.” Donald Trump raped when he is sent to prison for his 34 felony convictions.

The comedian called it a “puzzling paradox” that rape jokes were “completely unacceptable and unthinkable” – unless they were about prison.

Maher said such jokes will become more common since the former president was convicted last Thursday of falsifying company records.

“With all the talk about Trump possibly going to jail, we did it all. I mean, come on, it’s Donald Trump!’ he joked about his HBO show.

“If you get the chance, it’s natural to want to imagine him getting fucked in the a**.”

Donald Trump was convicted of 34 crimes for falsifying company records in ‘hush money’ trial and faces jail time – although unlikely

Trump is unlikely to go to jail if he does convicted on July 11 after the ‘hush money’ trialdespite the number of crimes, as he is a first-time non-violent offender.

But Maher’s bizarre joke cast a serious spotlight on American attitudes toward criminal punishment, and on the country’s prison system in general.

“I’m just saying maybe we shouldn’t do that (prison rape joke,” he continued).

“If not for him, then for the nearly two million people who are behind bars in this country at any given time. That’s more people than in twelve states. They should have their own two senators.”

Maher pointed out that the U.S. had a higher incarceration rate than Russia, China or “almost all the other culprit countries” that Americans were concerned about.

“But for some reason, Americans simply accept that not only do we lock up many more people, but if you’re a criminal of any kind? Yes, sodomy is the appropriate reward,” he said scornfully.

Maher explained that many prisons were so overcrowded that prisoners had to fight for toilets and showers and even sleep on the floor – or were locked up in solitary confinement.

Bill Maher joked that “all of us” have imagined that Donald Trump would be raped if he were sent to prison

The US also has four of the 25 most dangerous prisons in the world: the Florence Supermax in Colorado, Attica near Buffalo, San Quentin north of San Francisco, and the New Mexico State Penitentiary.

A fifth prison, FCI Dublin, near Oakland, was also closed because the guard’s “rape club,” where sexual abuse of inmates by staff was rampant, was too deeply ingrained in the workplace culture to reformhe said.

‘What kind of society is cool with all this? “We call them ‘correctional facilities,’ but that’s like calling the NFL a brain development program,” he said.

“I’m not saying it’s not okay to lock people up, of course it is, but it is not okay to intentionally violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

“Fake tough guys think that if prison is bad enough it will encourage people to stay out of trouble after they get out, but they’re wrong: it actually does the opposite.”

In a garden on Rikers Island, the New York City jail where Trump would most likely be sent if jailed

As evidence, Maher pointed to the country’s high recidivism rates: 43 percent in the first year after release and 82 percent within ten years.

He described the prison as ‘LinkedIn for lowlifes’ and since almost all prisoners are eventually released, Americans had to think about ‘who we really want to bring back into society’

“It’s a taxpayer-funded criminal mentorship program,” he said.

“A hapless, broke guy goes in selling drugs or passing a bad check, and a few years later he comes out as a sexual predator with ‘white power’ written on his neck.

“We all just accept how prison works: you come in bad, you come out worse… but it doesn’t have to be this way, we can change.”

Maher pointed to countries like Norway, where prisoners are given comfortable cells and taught trades, and where “there are guards who are not maniacs and have not passed the police psychiatric exam” – and that is rewarded with a recidivism rate of just 20 per cent.

A sentence of less than a year would put Trump in Rikers, anything longer would send him to a state facility in New York

Maher blamed the use of private prisons in the US for much of the problem of recidivism.

“Companies run prisons not to improve society, but to make money,” he said.

“The more prisoners, the more profit… they don’t want them rehabilitated, they want repeat customers.”

Trump was found guilty of falsifying company records to cover up ‘hush money’ payments to porn star Stormy Daniels about their extramarital affair to prevent news of it derail his election campaign.

His convictions could be in doubt after a Facebook post claimed jurors discussed plans to find him guilty before delivering their verdict.

Judge Juan Merchan sparked speculation about a possible mistrial when he mailed a letter to the prosecution and defense attorneys.

‘My cousin is a juror and says Trump will be convicted [heart emoji] Thank you folks for all your work!!!!’ it reads.