Hillary Clinton said she’s “ready to come out of the woods” after keeping a low profile since her shocking election defeat in November, but Bill Maher thinks she should just stay in there.

On Friday’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the 61-year-old comedian said the former Democratic presidential nominee had her chance and blew it.

“Hillary, stay in the woods, OK? You had your shot. You f—ed it up. You’re Bill Buckner,” Mr. Maher said. “We had the World Series, and you let the grounder go through your legs. Let someone else have the chance.

“The fact that she’s coming back, it just verifies every bad thing anyone’s ever thought about the Clintons, that it’s all about them,” Mr. Maher said. “Let some of the other shorter trees get a little sunlight.”

Neera Tanden, president of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, disagreed with Mr. Maher, saying Mrs. Clinton has every right to speak out on an issue that “she’s worked on for decades of her life.”

“Yeah, but what did she speak about?” Mr. Maher asked. “She’s speaking out because Bill O’Reilly made a joke about Maxine Waters’ hair.”

The comedian was referring to Mr. O’Reilly’s now-retracted joke that black Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters wears a “James Brown wig.” Mrs. Clinton called the joke “racist” during a speech last week in San Francisco.

“She spoke out against racism and sexism,” Ms. Tanden said.

“She spoke out about a joke,” Mr. Maher added. “You know what, this is why the Democrats lost the election in the first place. Because they cannot get their priorities straight, and they never fail to take the bait about little bulls– issues.”

Former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, who was also on the show, said the left should stop being “outraged at every offense.”

“Stop the fake outrage,” he said.

“It’s not fake! It’s not fake outrage,” Ms. Tanden responded.

“It is fake outrage,” Mr. Santorum interjected. “Well, if it isn’t fake outrage then you should learn to take a joke and move on.”

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