On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher and former CIA Director John Brennan argued that the US is in a third national crisis that is worse than the Great Depression.

Maher said, “I think we are in a crisis that is the third great crisis in American history, more than the Depression. First, of course, the Revolutionary War, whether we would even become a country, then the Civil War, people usually say then the Depression. I don’t think the Depression got at what is most fundamental about this country. It was economic, but I don’t think it threatened the rule of law, as we do — as we have now. Would you rank the crisis we’re in now that way?”

Brennan responded, “I would, and I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Because don’t forget, Donald Trump has the authority of the president of the United States in his hands, in terms of what he can do domestically here, as well as what he can do internationally to try to distract attention, whether or not he’s going to pursue some type of foreign adventure, military or otherwise. But fundamentally though, what he’s doing to this country, he’s dividing us. We Americans, as you pointed out, Revolutionary War and Civil War, we fought hard for the freedoms and liberties that we have right now, and so he’s dividing Americans. And so I’m really concerned that as he continues to play to his base, he’s further dividing us, and I’m really concerned about whether this could spill over into the streets.”

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