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David Axelrod bails on Bill Maher

David Axelrod will not be appearing as a guest on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” despite reports last week that he was scheduled to do the show in the next few weeks.

“He's not scheduled to go on at this time,” said Ben LaBolt, the press secretary for President Obama’s reelection campaign.

(Also on POLITICO: Limbaugh laughs at Dems: "They thought I was finished")

Maher, who donated $1 million to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA, has increasingly become a target of right-wing attacks over the last week in response to the left’s attacks on Rush Limbaugh. Maher has come under fire for calling Sarah Palin a “c**t” during his stand-up act and a “dumb tw**t” on his HBO show, among other sexist comments.

Axelrod has used the Limbaugh affair to attack Mitt Romney, slamming him for having “essentially refused to comment on what was a really egregious set of comments by Limbaugh” and saying “he’s afraid to challenge a guy who’s the de-facto head of his party.”

The Daily noted this when reporting last Wednesday that, according to an HBO spokeswoman, Axelrod was scheduled to appear on Maher’s show in the coming weeks.

Axelrod’s cold feet are not the only sign that the right’s attacks on Maher seem to be gaining some traction.

On Thursday, The Daily Caller reported that the Alabama Democratic Party had scrubbed its website of an announcement for its upcoming fundraiser headlined by Maher.