That was Bill Maher forcefully defending the Washington Commanders defensive coordinator's right to free speech on his show Friday night ... whether you believe the coach is right or wrong about his Capitol attack comments.

Of course, Del Rio was fined $100K for calling January 6th a "dust-up" ... and comparing violence at the Capitol to violence in the wake of George Floyd's murder.

"I see the images on TV, people's livelihoods are being destroyed," Del Rio said. "Businesses are being burned down. No problem, and then we have a dust-up at the Capitol, where nothing burned down. And we’re going to make that a major deal?"

When head coach Ron Rivera announced the big fine, he seemingly contradicted himself when he noted JDR had the "Constitutional right" to make the comments, confusing many people, including Maher. Rivera also said he "very strongly" believes in free speech.

[Rivera] said about the guy who got fined, "'He does have the right to voice his opinion, and it most certainly is his Constitutional right to do so.' Apparently not! This is the don't pee on my shoe and tell me it's raining. What the f*** are you talking about? He doesn't have the right to an opinion, and it's obviously not his right to do so."

Del Rio later apologized for the comments.

Aside from JDR, the Commanders organization has been plagued by controversy.

Just a few weeks ago, the heads of two Congressional committees (United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform and Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy) blasted the team, accusing Washington and the NFL of obstructing the committees "at every turn" as they investigate claims of rampant sexual harassment within the Commanders.

The NFL, in a separate investigation, looked into several of the claims, and fined Washington $10 million.