WATCH: Bill Maher RIPS into COVID 'fear porn' on his show

Bill Maher had a lot to say on Friday night on his show "Real Time" regarding the media's coverage of the pandemic, and how we have a "badly misinformed population" as a result.

"'If you lie to people, even for a very good cause, you lose their trust'- @billmaher Yep," says the tweet.

"Don't spin me when it comes to my health," said Maher, talking about how the government and many major media outlets  "to take a 'scared straight' approach to getting the public to comply with their recommendations."

"While, I'm from a different school," continued Maher. "'Give it to me straight, doc', because, in the long run, that always works better than 'you can't handle the truth'."

"Now, I get it. Doctors tell people lies because they don't trust you to finish the antibiotics after your d**k starts feeling better. And the media, well, I think we all know, 'if it bleeds, it leads.' The more they can get you to stay inside and watch their panic porn, the higher the ratings."

".... even as things were getting better, the reporting remained negative. And politicians, they lie because it's their nature to cover their a**, so they don't get blamed if things go badly. Also, to keep in practice."

Maher went on to point out how misinformation affects both sides of the political spectrum:

"We do know conservatives have some loopy ideas about COVID, like the third of Republicans who believe it couldn't be spread by someone showing no symptoms."

"But what about liberals? You know, the high-information 'by the science' people?"

"In a recent Gallup survey, Democrats did much worse than Republicans in getting the right answer to the fundamental question: 'What are the chances that someone who gets COVID will need to be hospitalized?'"

"The  answer is between one and five percent. Forty-one percent of Democrats thought it was over 50 percent. Another 29 percent put the chances at 20 to 49 [percent]. So, 70 percent of Democrats are wildly off on this key question."

Maher went on to point out that Democrats also wrongly overestimate the danger of COVID to children, "all of which explains why, today, the states with the highest share of schools which are closed are all blue states."

".... Shouldn't liberal media have to answer for 'how did your audience wind up believing such a bunch of crap about COVID?'"

Maher then talked about how states like TX "lifted its COVID restrictions recently, and their infection rates went down, in part because of people getting outside to let the sun and wind do their thing."

After that, Maher moved to the state of FL, noting that that Gov. De Santis (R) "protected his most vulnerable population, the elderly, way better than did the governor of NY."

".... I don't want politics mixed in with my medical decisions," stated Maher to thunderous applause. He then talks about how ".... a stunning statistic was reported: 78 percent of those hospitalized, ventilated or dead from COVID have been overweight."

"It is the key piece of the puzzle ..... but you dare not speak it's name .... the last think you want to do is say something insensitive. We would literally rather die."