US talk show host Bill Maher sparked a social media row on Friday night when he called Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett "nuts" on account of her Catholic faith.
Democratic senators “won’t make Barrett’s religion an issue – but they should, ’cause being nuts is relevant,” he claimed on his HBO show.
"Democrats have to stop talking about packing the supreme court, because it's already packed - with Catholics," Maher quipped. "Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh, Sotomayor."
"And Gorsuch, who I count as Catholic because he was raised Catholic and is now Episcopalian, which is just a Catholic who flunked Latin!"
Maher, a declared atheist whose family includes Jews and Catholics, claimed he had nothing against the faith "except my own upbringing".
But he stressed that Roman Catholics make up only 20 per cent of the population - before starting on other religious minorities.
"If seven out of nine justices were Jews, or Muslims, or Buddhists, would that be OK?" Maher asked.
Some Netizens accused Maher of bigotry against Catholics
Others were eager to support Maher's crusade against Catholics.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said voters "don't deserve" to know whether he will increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court above the traditional nine and pack it with liberals if elected.