Bill Maher mocks Fox and Ted Cruz for complaining about 'badass' Eric Holder

Real Time host Bill Maher laughed at conservatives' criticism of outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder -- including Fox News host Andrea Tantaros, who said Holder ran the Justice Department "like the Black Panthers would."

"I'm not that familiar with her," Maher said. "Apparently she's for people who find Elisabeth Hasselbeck too intellectual."

Holder announced on Thursday that he would be resigning, though he would stay on the job until President Barack Obama's nominee for the position was confirmed. Maher then criticized Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for saying the Senate should delay confirmation hearings until after the November elections.

"I think this is astounding: that the Republican Party right now, to win over the base, you have to loudly proclaim that you are not going to do your job," Maher said. Conservative columnist John Feehery said that, while he was "not a fan" of Holder's, he agreed with the idea that Holder's successor should be confirmed soon.

"I'd be happy to have somebody else in there," Feehery explained. "My view is, let's get a vote, let's get the next replacement and let's move on. That's part of the duty of Congress: do their job and get it over with."

But Maher and Feehery sparred over Holder's remarks in 2009 calling the U.S. a "nation of cowards" regarding racial issues.

That statement, Maher said, was "what made him such a badass." But Feehery called it polarizing.

"He made that statement about 'a nation of cowards' right after President Obama got elected," Feehery said. "I think we could have taken some time to celebrate a great historic victory."

"I wish we had taken some time to celebrate it," New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow countered. "But that's not what was happening right after President Obama was elected."

"It was the beginning of the Tea Party," Maher added.

Meanwhile, Maher gushed about Holder's performance as Attorney General.

"I feel like, besides being America's top cop, he was also America's bad cop to Obama's good cop," Maher said of Holder. "He could say the things Obama couldn't say."

Watch the discussion, as posted online on Friday, below.