You think his appearance on “Real Time” helped lead to his downfall?

That’s what I was just saying. And by the way, I wasn’t trying to get him removed from society. I’m somebody who, many times, people have tried to make go away. They were successful that one time, for six months in 23 years, because that’s how long it was between the two shows [“Real Time” and “Politically Incorrect,” Mr. Maher’s previous talk show, which aired on Comedy Central and ABC]. It just rubs me the wrong way when somebody says, “I don’t like what this person is saying — he should go away.”

Do you feel that way even about the kinds of things Milo was saying on your show, or in the other platforms he was given?

Can he do damage? I suppose he can. To a degree. Not a great degree, I don’t think. Could he offend people? Could he even inspire a borderline person to do something violent? I guess so. But nothing is free in life. People seem to want to live in this world where everything is a win-win. That’s not how life works.

Could there have been more accountability in your segments with him? For instance, it seemed like he was allowed to grossly understate his role in harassing Leslie Jones on Twitter.

It’s not my job to hold him accountable to everything he’s ever said or done. I had eight minutes with him, on the show itself. Sorry I don’t have time to go over everything everybody else would want to do. We just had time to, sort of, start a discussion of the broad view of who he is. I don’t think he frankly knows what he’s going to say half the time, or knows what his philosophy is. But to see him as this monster is a little crazy. You know what he is? He’s the little impish, bratty kid brother. And the liberals are his older teenager sisters who are having a sleepover and he puts a spider in their sleeping bag so he can watch them scream.