Club Random with Bill Maher - Senator John Fetterman | Club Random with Bill Maher

Episode Date: May 11, 2026

Bill Maher sits down with Senator John Fetterman for a brutally candid conversation with no loyalty tests and no easy answers. From Trump, media outrage cycles, and Democratic Party infighting to Israel, Iran, immigration, cancel culture, and the death of political nuance, Maher and Fetterman dive headfirst into the forces pulling America apart — and why so many voters feel politically homeless right now. Fetterman opens up about surviving his stroke, the backlash he’s taken from both the left and the right, and why he refuses to perform partisan outrage just to earn applause. He talks about how his support for Israel after October 7 fractured relationships within his own party, why Democrats continue losing working-class voters, and what many on the left still fail to understand about Trump’s appeal. Support our Advertisers: Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/RANDOM #rulapod #ad Try ZipRecruiter for free at https://www.ziprecruiter.com/random  Try Claude for free at https://www.claude.ai/clubrandom Subscribe to the Club Random YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/clubrandompodcast?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Watch episodes ad-free – subscribe to Bill Maher’s Substack: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://billmaher.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you listen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/ClubRandom⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Buy Club Random Merch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://clubrandom.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices ABOUT CLUB RANDOM Bill Maher rewrites the rules of podcasting the way he did in television in this series of one on one, hour long conversations with a wide variety of unexpected guests in the undisclosed location called Club Random. There’s a whole big world out there that isn’t about politics and Bill and his guests—from Bill Burr and Jerry Seinfeld to Jordan Peterson, Quentin Tarantino and Neil DeGrasse Tyson—talk about all of it.  For advertising opportunities please email: [e-mail] ABOUT BILL MAHER Bill Maher was the host of “Politically Incorrect” (Comedy Central, ABC) from 1993-2002, and for the last fourteen years on HBO’s “Real Time,” Maher’s combination of unflinching honesty and big laughs have garnered him 40 Emmy nominations. Maher won his first Emmy in 2014 as executive producer for the HBO series, “VICE.” In October of 2008, this same combination was on display in Maher’s uproarious and unprecedented swipe at organized religion, “Religulous.” Maher has written five bestsellers: “True Story,” “Does Anybody Have a Problem with That? Politically Incorrect’s Greatest Hits,” “When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Bin Laden,” “New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer,” and most recently, “The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody But Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass.” FOLLOW CLUB RANDOM https://www.clubrandom.com https://www.facebook.com/Club-Random-101776489118185 https://twitter.com/clubrandom_ https://www.instagram.com/clubrandompodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@clubrandompodcast FOLLOW BILL MAHER https://www.billmaher.com https://twitter.com/billmaher https://www.instagram.com/billmaher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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with the updated logo, super soft t-shirt, super soft for men and women, and even tie-dye shirts. All merch is available exclusively at clubrandom.com. While you're there, catch up on recent episodes, and grab some swag and bring a little random home. Once again, that's clubrandom.com. I've had to vote against my caucus alone. I mean, somehow you're the suspect Democrat, the guy in the hoodie. Club Brando. Coming up on the fourth anniversary of when I died from that stroke.

Your health is good. Never better. Physically, mentally, everything. How you doing? Hi, there he is. Hi. Hi. Oh, you, big man?

Yeah. Thank you for seating, because I know if you stood, you'd tower over me, I look like a shrimp. Yeah. I see you wore your good shorts. Were you making a speech on the Senate floor? Yeah, no, I mean, you know, true story, though, I was never trying to change any dress code. Like, you know, Schumer was just trying to be kind, assuming that it was referencing me. And then I found out, I'm like, oh, my God, everyone's going to think I was like trying. I'm like, no.

Well, maybe you weren't trying, but when you show up like that, In a place like the Senate, people are going to notice. Yeah. Yeah, it never really occurred to me how strange that must seem. Well, to me, that story always illustrated the big problem. Of course, I think we both agree that goes on in this country, which is everything becomes a political battle. Everything is just an excuse to. to say your team is stupid and my team is great.

It has nothing to do with anything. You know what it's like to me? The ballroom. Trump's ballroom. You think, can we talk about that? It's like, who gives a fuck? I don't give a talk about this. It's like, yes, you need, you mean, you've been there, I'm sure.

You'd seem like they have these tents and it's crazy. And like, now I was a table away when that assassination. Oh, you were? And it just, I'm like, I was stunned just walking in. You have the entire line of succession right there. And could you just imagine? I mean, we all remember Oklahoma bomb, right? Yes.

They could have had someone, you know, in a room up there, boom. And you could have decapitated the, you know, our nation just in one thing with, you know, a couple thousand dollars a diamondite, a dynamite and thing. And again, you could. You can be, as we do, opposing Trump on everything that's important. But if you are a person out there who just hates the ballroom, that is a Rorschach's test on you that you go by the, if I hate this person, then I just have to hate everything they do. Yeah.

And it's silly because this is the United States of America. We do need a place to have state dinners. You know what it is, John? It's the word ballroom. It's a funny word. It connotes like some sort of gallivanding around an 18th century fops with powdered wig. A ballroom. If they called it, we're putting in a state dinner pavilion.

Absolutely. And from a security issue, too, now, as drone technology continue to evolve, it creates an even more dangerous. and the thing, like, by the time, we will be forced to vote on that, you know, and then I'll be like, do I vote, no, because, because, because, oh, yeah, we have, we have to hate that shit, you know, I mean, but we can't, we can't just acknowledge, yeah, we should have a facility to accommodate these kinds of events. And, you know, I've followed your story, how, how long it took you to build your structure, right? I mean, this thing won't even be finished by the time he done. Right. And this idea, he's not going to build a Dave and Busters. I mean, it's just going to be a ballroom.

Are they going to make you vote on this? I mean. Because it's publicly funded now. Regardless at this point, whatever's damage done already, because I haven't described it as disgusting or terrible. And if you use private money, that's terrible. If you use public money, well, that's outrageous. And now... Meanwhile, the money is like one angstrom unit of a percentage point of what our budget is. So it doesn't matter anyway. It's couch money. And my race in 22 was spent $330 million. That was the record at that time.

That's quaint compared to 24. And watch the cycle this year, Senate seats are going to be spending much more than just that to build a legacy. structure for the White House and that's only going to be used from presidents that are not going to be him. And 330 million, that is about what a ballroom costs. Yeah, exactly. That's the thing. You can either have a senator or a ballroom.

No offense, I'll take the ballroom. The ballroom has a purpose. A lot of the senators you work with do not. No, I said that's the TDS, this thing. I said that in one where if he came out for ice cream and lazy Sundays, we would fucking hate it. And the other side does it too. But I don't care about them so much. I would like the Democrats.

I mean, we're both always on the same page here. We just people attack us because they think we're picking fights with the left. We're not picking fights. We just don't, like, let it pass if we think something is stupid. Yeah. Do you have to have a fucking opinion on everything? I mean, like, we all, we all have platforms, and we all have a personal bandwidth. You have to choose what's your, and I don't chase these small, like, weird things

because it has no impact on the overall, you know, but people, you know, they become a just, just constant, constant. Right. They have to be at war. My advice to them, I did this as a bit one night because every time I've tried to learn meditation, which I'm not very good at, maybe you are, you know, it's a big thing.

People, very respectable people, like Sam Harris is a big meditation person. People I respect a lot, say it's very helpful for you. And they always describe it as, you know, meditating, clearing your mind, and we all have a million thoughts that are coming into our mind, and they say, well, just let them pass like a cloud. Your thoughts will come.

Just let them pass. And I feel like this is what you have to do with Donald Trump. Go after the stuff that matters, the politicization of the Justice Department, the threatening of election, I mean, all the stuff. And the stuff that, like, ballroom stuff, that's the cloud. it's just it doesn't matter and if you chase it it's so much more about you

than him at that point it's constantly like a churn and the thing that you know today the most outrageous thing the world's on fire and then by Wednesday we've moved on to something completely different and that's the next

kind of crisis and the conversation is increasingly driven by people that represent a very blue, you know, the anti, the resistance, whatever you want to call it, people that have never won like an actual election that, you know, you have to be in front of both kinds of people and make the argument and just realize that there is another side. And they're all not fascist. They're not Nazis. They're not trying to destroy. They love the country just as much as you do.

And finding a way forward. And that's the reality. That's the essence of democracy. And when you represent a state like Pennsylvania, that's a responsibility. And, you know, it's easy. And even you can be jealous where it must be nice. It's just to yell to the... Oh, it is. It's lovely to the... To sit in the peanut gallery?

Yes. Yeah, the peanut gallery is... The peanut gallery now is like one of those fancy theaters now. The seats go back and they have a thing for your food to put in. Oh, it's very exclusive. It's like $25 a ticket, but I think it's worth it. Because otherwise the peanuts, you would just... sitting on peanut shells.

And now we're, you know, the Democratic Party, we can't resist our worst impulses as things continue to accelerate. We keep trying to get ahead of California. You know, like we, you know, as a national party, we can't get ahead of California of these kinds of policies and this kinds of thoughts of what we think it should be. If you believe in Medicare for everyone, why don't we have it here in California? why don't we have it in another blue states that could have do anything that they want to do? And there's a lot of realities.

So, you know, why can't we just slow down and realize call balls, call strikes? And remember, all of our excess that really cost us in 2024, we will revisit a lot of the things and add $100 million behind that. And that people will finally remind that, oh, yeah, they do have kinds of things. that aren't compatible with my worldview. I had our governor on Friday night. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Okay, so you'll appreciate this. So, you know, they always news people write about the show over the weekend. And I see in the California Post, which is the New York Post now that we have it out here. Yeah, I read it. Yeah, I do, too. It's great to have somebody to keep the other side honest. I mean, some of it is trashy. That's fine.

I enjoy some draft, and it's too reflexively anti-democratic, but it's fun. And yes, there's also some actual, very credible writing in there from the right, which is okay. But I see they're talking about my interview with Newsom, and it's, well, Bill kept his feet to the fire. And Bill said, when he started to talk about California, Bill said, you really think people are feeling that as he was bragging about the stuff in the state? So it looked like I was the hero there. Then I read the next day, Trump tweeted that I was too easy on him. And so the story, and the same paper is like, ah, Bill, he just let Newsom off the hook. Wait, a day ago, they just don't care.

They don't care what the truth is. What's going to sell the paper today or be interesting today? You can't even take it seriously. I mean, since I is here, have you seen that what's the Spencer Pratt's, his last commercial, that AI about he's Batman? No. You have to see it because he has this AI commercial as Batman

and it put Mayor Bass as the Joker and they put Newsom as, you know, like Louis the 14th, you know, eating cake. And I'm telling you, now, like, you know, whatever happens in this election, you know, any other election, I guarantee they are, you know, like, it put him just like French, you know, eating cake. And, you know, you should check it out. I will. And this obviously is all from AI. And but he, so he made it with AI, but ran it as a real campaign ad? I mean, he's not, legit.

He's not denouncing it. Well, consider the other side, the Democratic side. their commercials are literally fuck Trump. Right. Yeah. It just keeps cutting, you know, different people saying fuck Trump. And I'm like, oh, yeah, oh, yeah, you're going to love that in a purple state. Try, try to win, try to win a national argument and by announcing, you know, the party's leader and your voters, you know, like, well, that's your platform.

Yeah, it's, first of all, he can't be president again. that doesn't mean he won't try but even for people who didn't vote for him that doesn't appeal to me that this is the smartest thing you can say really so you know look I mean honestly I was never worried that he was going to run for three

terms I mean he's like the master troll I mean he he must love just Trump 28 throwing out the hats and it's just meth. And then if he does try to run for a third term, that means that makes Obama eligible. And then, you know, isn't America really wanting that to finally settle that anyway? Who actually means?

Because I don't know, but that's just not going to happen. Yeah, but, I mean, first of all, he could do it. I mean, when I talked to him, he did, and I've heard him say it in other occasions, but he did say vaguely, you know, there's a way you could do it. And I remember saying to him, no, there's not a way you could do it. And again, this is what they got mad at me for reporting honestly that in private, when you talk

to him like that, he doesn't get upset. When he said, there's a way you could do it. And I just said blatantly friendly, again, because when you're on, when the claws are down, and I just said, there's actually not a way you could do it. He just laughed. You know, it wasn't like, and then Dr. Jekyll goes away and Mr. Hyde comes out who has to like call everybody out on everything and be completely DefCon 1 about everything. I mean, this obsession he seems to have lately with, I was so nervous at the White House that I had to have a drink right away. I mean, it's like what a check says about you when she's pissed off and you break up.

You know, like, he did this, he did that. No, I didn't do any of that. Did I have a drink before dinner? Yes, as people often do, have a drink before dinner. Was it immediately? Of course not. Was I nervous? No.

Partly because, again, he wasn't. Well, you were taking on the spectacle, right? I mean, and I mean, you and I, you and I, you know, we were in a unique situation together. you know he invited me to have a dinner with him in marlago in January of 20 25 and and I took a lot of shit for that like you know I'm like he invited why wouldn't as a senator you know have an opportunity to to meet with him and you know and you did the same thing and like why is that and he does listen in private yeah I couldn't believe it I keep saying to these people these morons he needs more people like us talking to him, not less.

And he's willing to do it. It's the people on the far left who are like, how dare you talk to Hitler? How dare you talk to Hitler McPedophile? And if you characterize someone that way, of course there are people like the nut who was at the dinner you just mentioned who are going to take that seriously. No, that happens on the other side too.

Rhetoric does cause action. Absolutely. But, I mean, well, what was that like? I mean, you said you were a couple of feet away from... Yeah, well, it's like, you know, when you were describing your experience on your show, like you've seen that meme from Leo, like, me, me, like, I was like, yeah, that's the thing. Like, gracious and measured, whatever that's a term use, that's his, you know, in a personal level. And it's a much, much dramatically different, the public face compared to when you're there.

and he you know we we hung out for 75 minutes where I wondered if it was going to be 10 minutes kind of like high by and whatever no no he he gives the time yeah and and and that's it was yeah yeah well another thing I keep saying is he's not home reading the briefing books he's a people a saying guy people so be one of the people saying it's the only way he's the only way he's gets information is through dialogue. Oh, yeah. Okay, that's just the truth. I'm not even putting him down, although a president should definitely read the briefing books, but that's the world we're living in. We're with one who doesn't. So, like, conform to that a little bit.

It doesn't make you somehow unpure, makes you practical and smart. Well, it's funny. He was giving, like, a speech at some place in, I think, Florida, and he's like, it he start talking about Dr. Oz. He's like, look, he's like, Dr. Oz, I don't care about that Medicaid thing. I don't care. Just do something. He's just, yeah.

He just, like, he just absolutely said that aloud. Oh. And, like, that's, that reference, that preference, where it's like the briefs and all that stuff. Like, I don't care, Dr. Oz. I don't just do whatever. I mean, the things that he says aloud, the way he just voices his interior monologue, there is something not exactly psychological. normal about someone who just vomits their interior monologue, but it gives him an authenticity with people that no one else can possibly match. I saw his interview with Nora O'Donnell

after the shooting, like the next day, and she quotes the assassin who called him a pedophile, Hitler or whatever he called. I mean, you know, could any of the things be true? Yes, anything could be true. But like to just go right to, it's the ballroom syndrome again. Let's just go right to the worst thing because we hate this guy. And that pissed him off a lot. I could see both sides as a reporter.

It is news. Also, it's giving access to the president from the terrorist, I would say, that's terrorism, assassination, not. You're giving his message, okay, you could make a case for either one, but his reaction immediately was to her, you're a terrible person. And he didn't just think it.

Like any politician, that's exactly what they're thinking. He just says it. Like, if that's what's in his head, you're a horrible person. You're a terrible, you're a disgrace, you're a horrible. And he just, and it's like, it's at the same time, horrifying and also like it's kind of like refreshing it's shockingly the honesty as someone who loves

honesty and has made my career about it as much as I could it is it's this there's some level of it where you tip your hat and you go wow total honesty you I think you're a horrible person and I'm just going to say it the ultimate the quiet piggy right yeah That's the president of America. No, that's your quiet people. That's why I mean, it's like all you can do is just, you know, like that. I don't get mad when he sends out these tweets anymore about me. It's like because the next day, I feel like it's forgotten.

Yeah, I don't know. A long time ago, yeah. I don't know if even he remembers. But I know he's, I know he's working very hard to get you. Isn't he trying now to get you to become a Republican? I mean, like, I, I, I, I, absolutely had to, you know, actively participate in an election that I absolutely knew that we'd go down, you know, like, after the assassination, people have absolutely forgotten the difference

between Zepruda or Butler is half an inch, and that would have been that. And how horrific it is that. Horrific, yes. Yeah, and I can't imagine the shape of our country if he has been. Oh. Yeah. Oh, like I can't imagine. Thank God. Thank God for a lot of reasons why that was unsuccessful. And people forgot that, I think, in my views.

And then after when you, when Anderson Cooper asked Harris, you know, so you think he's a fascist? Yeah, I do. I do. And that means people that, well, if he's a fascist, that must mean, you know, I must be a fascist. too, and if you know and love a lot of people that have voted for him, I know they aren't fascist, and you kind of view. I mean, there are things the Trump administration has done that resemble what fascist governments do. That doesn't make him a fascist.

I said 10 years ago, before he won the first time, I thought this was a slow-moving coup in the sense that he was never going to voluntarily give up power. And he still really didn't. I mean, he still is upset about the 2020 election, which is an insane thing to do if you then won the 2024 election. Because, okay, this is the third act. And, you know, the hero rises. And, of course, he goes down in the second act.

And then he comes back in the third act. He doesn't then, you know, relitigate the same. second act because you've already avenged it by becoming president again. But he's still obsessed with it. It's one of the reasons why I was I was eager to have a sit down where I'm like, I was marveled at the most incredible political, you know, turnaround ever, you know, like after January 6th, after impeached twice. And, you know.

And all the trials. Yeah, the trials and everything. And to win, you know, every swing state and the popular vote, you know, the absolute kinds of a reversal. And it's like crazy. And that's why there's some things that they do. I just don't understand. And what you possible at that point and what you may choose to do, you know, I made that decision. Like, well, I'm going to agree with some things that I happen to agree, you know, and the things that I don't.

Yeah. And like, I never voted for the big, beautiful bill and those things. I've never voted for these kind of signature things that I think it isn't the right thing for the country. But I absolutely support the things that they've done. Well, I think you vote with the Democrats 93% of the time. I mean, it's hysterical to me that the Democratic Party, which you vote with 93% of the time, Because I feel like I get the same shit from the same kind of people. I'm so glad that there's a number to put with it because even when you're 93% with them,

their attitude is so bad. They have such a bad attitude. You either have the one true opinion, which we, the geniuses of the far left know, or you're just somebody at least suspect. in a state that 52% agreed Trump should be president. And, you know, the guy that represents them, you know, 93% time. And if, I know you're not a believer in marriage, but if you married to someone and you agree 93% of the time, that's probably be a pretty great marriage. And I'm mystified.

But what's also on the other side, I've had Republican friends, you know, in office say they're like, you know, our internals, you're more popular with our people than we are. How? And I don't understand that either. You know, when I vote 93% like a damn line and I'm more popular with Republicans, I can't explain it. I truly don't. And I'm finding myself in a strange place. When are you up for re-election? 28? 28. Oh. And, you know, like the things that were really important to me, that was And I think you largely agree with the circumstances in Israel after 10-7 and the Gaza War and the Prime Minister and how that migrated into Midnight Hammer. And, of course, the Iranian War. And you don't have the kinds of energy and outrage on the left after Iran just massacred 30 or 40,000 of its young people.

and now are actively now torturing, beating, and hanging teenagers right now, executing these people. No outrage. And that's really, maybe that's part of the fracture in my party. And that's probably how I explain.

And those outrages that you speak about, those atrocities, those are only the outrageous new, visible ones? What about the everyday atrocity that was living under the Iranian regime? Now, you know, people compare it to the Iraq War. In some ways it is, in some ways it isn't. Iraq and Iran are quite different countries. Sunni and Shiite, one, I'm sorry, but just way more sophisticated than the other, and that would be Iran. Iran under the Shah, yes, he was a dictator also. but it was a fairly Western country.

It's a very sophisticated population. Have you seen the pictures? I looked through a catalog of pictures of the Iranian society in the 70s. You know, before the, it's Western. Yes. And women are able to address effectively the same way. And it's so radical. That's the society.

And when I spend time here in L.A., I constantly encounter members of the. Iranian community and they are all they're there's one supportive of my views and they all understand how awful the Iranian regime is and and how evil and they want you know you and I free Palestine no where's the where's the protests free Iran free Iran why can't we have a free Iran you know like where where why does that come from and that is absolutely but what are we going to do about it now that it has devolved into this stalemate.

I mean, just yesterday, first, well, first they announced the war part is over. We were on to Project Freedom, which is just about opening the strait. And that lasted like an hour. And they stopped doing that because I think what Trump fears a lot right now is he doesn't want one of our boats to get sunk. Oh, yeah, absolutely. And that could have... Like if it has to be a perfect war in terms of that,

people have forgot like the brutality and real loss for that. And then that, I think that's what defines that. You know, I was so nervous and just following that so closely about rescuing the pilot. You know, that would have turned the entire energy of that if the Iranians would have got to them. Yes. And can you imagine? I mean, they're making Lego videos for propaganda. Can you imagine if they had an American pilot?

I can because I saw Owen Wilson and behind enemy lines. Yeah, yeah, exactly. That is that exact movie. And I think that's part of the energy. But I think what's accomplished with Epic was very important. And it's astonishing to what they've able to do. But overall right now, it would be a huge, huge. Huge. If you don't walk away now without requiring them to produce their nuclear material.

I don't know how, you know, I don't know how you can force them because they've kind of shown we can take your best punch. And let's be honest, the things that, the reason why you and I both supported this war as a thing to be done, none of those objectives have been achieved. It's not a different regime. It may in fact be a worse regime. because now the Revolutionary Guard probably is in command directly, as opposed to having the Mullahs above them, wink, wink, but they were really in command, but whatever it is. It's not the people we want to took over. The protest from the people rising didn't happen.

I've been saying that's because they missed their window. They should have attacked Iran while the people were in the streets. They let the people get slaughtered in the streets. Oh, yeah. And that's probably the top echel. of the people who you want to be in the streets, the bravest ones, they killed them all. What's so disappointing to me is,

where is the global nation community, you know, demanding Iran at this point? You know, it's like this idea, like this, every Democrat, you can't ever let them build a bomb, you know? And we're here at the cusp. When would you ever have that opportunity to do? And so if, Now, the Democratic Party and a lot of the media has trained the Iranian regime.

It's like, we just have to hang on one more day, one more day. We have to, because eventually people will lose their focus and just give up. And I think that's the tragedy right now. How do you, I mean, again, the objectives, the people didn't rise up, the regime isn't changed. We don't have the nuclear weapons 100% secure. and then the Strader Hormuz, which wasn't even on the table before the war. It should have been as an issue. So we lost the three things we wanted and gained one fourth one we didn't want.

Yeah, we knocked out most of their military stuff. Okay, that's all to the good. But how do you actually get this nuclear dust, he calls it, whatever it is. we probably knocked out some of it with the bomb back in July, the big bunker buster bomb, but we don't know. Apparently, we probably didn't because we're doing this. We don't know unless we are actually in that mountain. And how do you get in that mountain?

They have a million-man army that hasn't been talked about a lot, but they do have an army. So if you're going to look at that mountain and what's in it, somehow you're going to have to secure that area, which means I think you're going to have to fight this million-man army. And you don't want that, right? Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. BetMDM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly.

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Well, what I am, what I'm saying is, is that, you know, where are we at right now, remember back two years ago in 2024, and Sinwar was alive and the majority of the hostages were underground, and our party was demanding for a ceasefire, ceasefire, ceasefire, and what what Israel realized that, you know, we have to break and destroy Hamas. And we have to, we have to break and do the same for Hezbollah. And they've done that. And then they knew they all understand history. A country can't fight two wars on two fronts at the same time.

So after they neutralize those two, they were able to go after Iran. And then everything changed with Midnight Hammer. And they were able to significantly damage their nuclear facilities. Now, if there was a ceasefire, and now where would Iran's a nuclear bomb be right now, you know, two years after that, if there was that ceasefire that we all demanded, and where would Hezbollah? Hezbollah would have hundreds of thousands of rockets able to fire on will. Yeah, and things that we would never tolerate in our nation. You know, I had a room as Israeli politicians. I'm like, you know, have you ever been in your bomb shelter in your home?

everyone hand goes up. And I'm like, yeah, well, and now Democrats are voting against supporting the Iron Dome and those purely defensive things for Israel. And that's the betrayal, and that's heartbreaking to me. These were our core values, and that's part of this fracturing. And maybe that's why I've lost support in part of the Democratic Party. Me too. I mean, we're exactly the same way on this.

We're really walking hand-in-hand because we get shit about it. And if there's one issue, I mean, this whole big issue of Israel, the Middle East, Islamophobia, this whole, because they're all connected. If there's one issue, which makes me say to the far left, stop asking me why I make fun of the left more than I used to, this is it. This is why, because you're morally goofy. You're ignorant. You don't know history. you don't know the present either. Just when you put it on that level

where you just said, would you? I like to do it to that because people don't know the history. They don't know the facts. So you kind of have to just make it on that level for them. And I did it once. There was a liberal woman who was sitting here and she was arguing about how horrible.

I saw that where. It's like, where would you live in Tel Aviv, right? Yeah. If you had to live somewhere in the Middle East and it was just a lot of like trying to scream over me like whatever she could do to not answer the question and finally did have to say yes Tel Aviv. I mean.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. I think, I mean, ask any ISIS bride, you know, how's the life, you know, you know. Isis bride. Ask it, you know. Like Australia, Australia now is finally agreed to repatriate, you know, these ISIS brides. You know, these people, these women in Australia, you realize, oh, my gosh, that must be the caliphate, you know, live in that. life and you know ask ask any of them ask any of them just just the concept of an isis bride which

is basically a sex slave but when your husband isn't fucking fucking beekeeper suit so nobody else can even look at you and these are the women who would be like how horrible the manosphere is they don't respect women at all let me go join someone who will put me in a tarp all day and cover me like I'm a motorboat engine. I mean, they are so morally goofy. And liars, you know, they put that whole thing out for the longest time about how. Israel was starving the Palestinian people. You know, that was part of the thing in Gaza, part of their...

Yes, people were starving because Hamas stole all the food. Exactly, yes. Because Hamas wants the people to die. That is... First of all, they love being martyrs. Let's just not gloss over that. That's part of the whole religion-dominated culture. Modernism is good.

They have words for it. That's why they strapped bombs to children. Okay? So again, you're morally goofy. If this is the team you want to be on. And Israel didn't starve them. First of all, no other nation on earth at war would ever be even asked to think.

feed their enemy. Oh, yeah. Okay. So, but Israel always has to play by a different set of rules. Okay. So they're going to feed their enemy. They tried. The food was stolen by the same people who, by the way, had an enormous bomb shelter.

The whole country was a bomb shelter. It was their tunnels. But they wouldn't let the people in them. Yeah. Yeah. And they would use the hospitals. They would use the schools. They would use that civilian facilities,

for the attacks. You know, Sinwar described Palestinians as necessary sacrifices. You know, that's the plan. It's like they don't care how many Palestinians were killed. And that's part of the problem, too,

having to engage in a war that doesn't care because how many civilians suffer? They don't care. In fact, they celebrated, in fact. And I know you are your problems, John, but I live here in Hollywood. I have to live amongst people, most of whom, who think it's cool to wear the kaffaya to the Oscars and to say, you know, free Palestine, as if Palestine would be liberated by living under Hamas. By the way, Israel geniuses educated on

TikTok was liberated in 2005 by Israel. Israel gave me. Israel gave it back and said, here, you have your land again. You do something with it. And this is what they did with it. Yeah. I mean, they made it into a fortress, didn't spend it on the people, or turning it into any sort of, it could have been Dubai. I agree. I sat with Bill Clinton. We were campaigning in Harris. And I was like, hey, thanks for your work. And Clinton, he reminds. It's like, yeah, we offered them 96% of the West Bank. And East Jerusalem. was the capital, you know, here you go. For 25 years, they could have rebuilding that into Dubai or whatever that they want.

They did not want a two-state solution. They're one-state solution, you know, as you always point out, like, from the river to the sea, what's in there, exactly. Just look at a map. We know where the river is. Yeah, look at the map. Yeah, as if these kids know what a map is or would know how to look at it. Yeah, they don't, again, it's especially for,

frustrating out here because people out here, they're actors, so they just want to cause. They want to do something about free Palestine. Identify. But that's as far as they've looked into it. They don't look past the buzzwords. They're talented. They're not bright. Name the one pro-Israel band that played at Coachella.

You know, they started their set, you know, Israel or whatever. It does not exist. but there's constant kinds of... Right. Yeah. There's an Irish... Yeah, those assholes a kneecap or whatever. Right.

And they even went to Cuba. As if Cuba hasn't... Yeah, that's if Cuba hasn't suffered enough. An Irish rap group. Yeah, and in 1300 sunglasses walking around like the communist paradise. That's right. Yeah. Was that Code Pink who did that?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, coat pink and all these. Okay, but here's the backstory. We did the move in Venezuela, which has, look, that one you have to say worked pretty good. Yeah, well, remember, people lost their shit over Venezuela. No one talks about Venezuela anymore, and that's my point. People also, I'm sorry, let me say this, that, you know, we're not talking about Gaza anymore, and people forgot, like, yeah, we, you know, we, you know,

ended the Gaza war, brought everyone back home as well, too. And this idea that what is the freak out of the day, you know, we're not talking about these things. We've all moved on. And I guarantee by the time this drops, there will be one or two more that, you know, part of this conversation. Yeah, but Venezuela was, look, I mean, when it does come up in conversation, it usually comes up now when people say, and this could be true, they say, well,

Trump saw how well Venezuela worked, he thought he could do it in Iran. Yeah, maybe that affected his thinking somewhat. Iran is not Venezuela, okay? I mean, you know, Barzini is not Tartaglia. Sorry, it's going to be a lot harder. But Venezuela kind of worked. I mean, nobody died on our side. It was very clean.

The idea in that country, where you could get rid of this really bad dictator and bringing bringing somebody who wasn't from the opposition exactly, but someone who was like, okay, you know what, that guy was kind of an asshole, let's work together. That's a great plan as opposed to... Joe Biden put 25 big stacks on him. You know, in January, before he left the office, he put a $25 million, you know, bounty on it.

Oh, really? Yes, you can verify that. And it's like, essentially, that's like, you know, some hitman, there's $25 million for you. Yeah. You know, so we did it in a way, and now they, you know, we have him. He's going to be on trial in public, held accountable for the atrocities that he committed against his nation. Right.

And that's why I said, why is that a bad thing? It's not a bad thing. And the bank shot off of Venezuela was Cuba. Yeah. Because Cuba is propped up a lot by Venezuela. They're very close. In fact, all of... It's all interconnected.

All of Madero's security guard were Cubans. Obviously, they didn't do so good. But Cuba needs the Venezuelan oil. So, yes, Cuba is starving now for oil, and we're doing that to them. But we're doing it because we want to have a regime change there. And so Code Pink and Jeremy Corbyn, the usual suspects, I think Little Greta was on that trip. Or if she wasn't, she certainly was supportive of it. She was probably involved with some other cause du jour, but they went to Cuba in support of the regime.

This is what is just so insane about the far left. And why are we so stupid, John, that we are criticized. That is why, because they're stupid, because they go to Cuba in support of the regime, which has done nothing but make, I know people who have been to Cuba. If you think you know poverty in America, you have no idea what poverty is. Exactly. And that's been going on for 67 years. It didn't just start when we took away their oil.

Exactly. And those people that visit there, do they know that they're useful idiots? You know, or they are that clueless that they're absolutely, you are backing a regime that's trapped this entire nation in extreme poverty and misery. And we are there like they're so great down here. Because Cuba could, again, be another like Gaza. It could be, instead of, Gaza could be Dubai and Cuba could be St. Bart's. It could.

Or anything. It's Cuba. It's in the Caribbean. And it's just been this nightmare for the better part of a century now. And yeah, we're trying to do something about that. And here's the best, the kicker of this story. They're in Cuba. Like you say, these assholes in their $1,300 designer glasses going down to support the people.

They're staying like in the one hotel that's a luxury hotel that while the people have no electricity, everything they're doing is air-conditioned, the bus. They cosplay sort of going into a field with the farmers, I think, for a minute. And you know what? They visited while they were in Cuba, like sightseeing on the World Wind Tour. they went to the North Korean embassy, and one of them tweeted out, our solidarity with North Korea for being two regimes that are against U.S. violence. The level of stupidity of these kids that they know one thing,

this country, America is the worst one that's ever been. We have done nothing but even. That's really how they've been indoctrinated. It's, aside the fact that it's terrible for our national security, It's just wrong. It's just stupid. You're stupid. You're factually wrong.

This country has done bad things like every country has. On a relative scale, we've actually been way better. Instead of staying at a luxury hotel, live with a real family that lives under this terrible regime for a month. And will you still defend this regime if you spent a month living in extreme kind of deprivation like that? Right. Of course, of course not. You know, you get choppered in, stay at a luxury hotel, you know, like, this is great, and then we're out. I mean, it's just, and that's the frustration.

But these are the people that the emerging, you know, that's our new class of mascots for our party. And now many of the people that are running for the Senate are campaigning with these kinds of people. Well, I mean, just the word communism or being called a communist, not that long ago was a dirty word. As it should be, we did try it, communism all over the world. It's a nightmare. But it's not a dirty word anymore on the left. You know, Plattner in Maine absolutely identified himself as a communist. Right.

100%. And so does Mondami's main lieutenant that's see a Weaver in New York head of the movement to get the rents fixated or whatever. You know, she says— Home ownership is racist and it's white supremacy. She's also tweeted out, elect more communists. Yeah, we want to impoverish, you know, white middle-income family. it's as part of the extreme. And that's what I'm saying.

Like, it's ironic in my cycle that the Republicans try to spend tens of millions of dollars to convince people that I was a socialist, you know? And now I'm accused of gone MAGA after voting 93% Democrat. No, it's... But communism now, that's not... It's qualified. Yeah, it's not that anybody's gone MAGA. It's that you're gone Gaga.

You're fucking nuts. You're crazy. You'd say crazy shit. Like, I mean, the woman we're talking about, all homeownership is racist. In a country where 20 million black people own homes, you know, queers for Palestine. Or when your mother... You're so self-contradictory. Yeah, their mother has a $2 million home in, like, Tennessee or whatever.

And it's just like... Kamala. You know what? Kamala Harris. Just not. I'm referencing that, like, like, Mandami's house czar. Yeah.

But I did read that she purchased, yeah, a $9 million home in Malibu. And she should. That's fine. This is America. I agree. No judgment. Yeah, she's got a big baller house in Malibu.

I mean, you can't get less sort of you. Real person kind of. I mean, somehow you're the suspect Democrat, the guy in the sweatshirt and the hoodie, who lives like he always did, you know, regular guy, Pittsburgh Steeler fan, da-da, da-da-da-da, I could go on. But she's the one who more represent. Well, if you think that more represents, and again, she, good for you to have a $9 million house. But to think that that represents that working class that the Democratic Party is trying to win back, I mean, I don't know.

It just, it doesn't look. Talk to any traditional union, traditional guys. They're all, all, all gone from the Democratic Party. Really? That started 10 years ago during the Trump first race. And 100% all those traditional, you know, the regular, regular dudes and those kind of people, you know, they're not coming back. And that's that in part why, you know, we've. have a second term of Trump?

I think that, and I would say the first term is because around then, I think there was a lot of talk about how well, you know, the Republican Party, they seem to do well in these races and we had Bush and blah, blah, blah, and Mitch McConnell, look what he did,

he fucked up the Supreme Court thing, yes, he did, but you know what? Their days are numbered because this is a country that is getting more and more diverse, which is a great thing all the time. And Trump looked around and went, yeah, I still see a lot of white people. You know what?

That is true, but I see white people. He was like the kid in the sixth sense, except not dead, white. I see white people. And he did, and they still exist. And they're mostly not racist, but they do have their own concerns. And there's a big difference between being not racist and willing to turn your life over to the cause. of anti-racism, which is what the far left wants. I think the best way to be an anti-racist is to be a decent human being to all people.

But that's very passe. That's Democrat classic, John. Yeah. That's what we are. We're classic. You know, I've followed you for, you know, we've watched for a, your values haven't changed. You know, your views haven't changed. And I say this, I'm the same thing where it's like, I haven't, you know.

I haven't, you know. Like, I mean, and that's what's so exasperating where I'm like, no, we're fine. It's so much better to be sane, no matter how much a certain faction hate you for it. Lots of other people love us for it. So it's not like we're not getting a good trade off. But also it's just, it's just sleep better at night knowing, no, I'm not one of these sheep who won't say the emperor has no clothes. real emperor has no clothes thing. You know, when it's, when you see somebody with

Queers for Palestine shirt and you, and you just pretend that that's not a thing, that that's not so stupid, okay, you can do that, but you are an emperor no close person there. You are saying the emperor has no clothes. And I mean, I am. I mean, you're saying the emperor does have clothes, right? I'm the kid who says the emperor has no clothes. Because the emperor doesn't have any clothes in that scenario. And many, others. I mean, I could list a dozen things where the left finds a way to work their way back to what they're trying to stop, you know, like defunding the police. Yeah, we're right back there. You know, we're like, you know, fuck ICE, abolish ICE. We are back.

We can't resist our worst impulses that brought, that summoned a second term with Trump. And now we are back there. And backlash like ice. Yeah, exactly. We are living in the backlash of this. And we are, what, 15 months into his term? That's four years. Can you imagine what's going to happen in the next two months, six months, you know,

a year from now? I mean, do you think it's going to get going in one direction more extreme? And, you know, there are no experts at this point because we are in unprecedented kinds of times. You know, I've had the vote against my... my caucus alone through two, two government shutdowns. The, you know, historic long, record breaking. You know, we used to be, we used to be the party that would refuse to shut down our government. You know, you know, we used to, last year, we used to scold Tuberville in Alabama for jamming up promotions.

And now we've shut the whole, the whole government down. We've shut the whole thing down. and over health care. So you're a guy who's known to have friends on the other side of the aisle, which I think is so important that we don't do that much anymore. It's like, I don't sit with those kids in the lunchroom. But somebody like you mentioned in Tommy Tuberville, he was a football coach. Yeah, and he did that stand about, I think it was like abortion in parts of the military,

or some weird thing. And it jammed up, you know, promotions. And it was punishing innocent people. And we shut the entire government down for 44 days and plunged people into chaos. Snap. 42 million Americans depend on snap. All of that stuff in flux. You know, well, we're doing this for health care. There was no health care. There was no developments. We've all moved on. We're not talking about that anymore. And then the second shutdown was about. we have to punish ICE, but we all knew that because of the big beautiful bill that I did not vote for, had unlimited money, and yet we still, we have to shut it down because the base demands that, and I was the only Democrat, I'm not going to shut down our DHS to punish ICE because,

and that what's happened, zero, zero reforms on ice that I wanted to see as well, too. Zero reforms, nothing. We walked away empty pockets, just like in the first one, because they were both driven by the outrage of the base. And that's another reason why I'm at odds with part of the party. And I don't know. These were our values. We must never shut our government down,

but now we're doing the same things. Well, you ask what we're going to be doing in two, six, eight months. I have no idea that. I know the political landscape will change a lot. What doesn't seem to change is my life. Trump makes anything possible on our side, too. You know, the extremism has mutated, you know, the genome here of, like, who knows what's possible, how it's going to continue to mutate. And the extreme things now, you know, I'm the party that calls them as Nazis, you know, but except for the guy that has an actual Nazi tattoo.

He won't call him a Nazi. I don't know all that against him. That, to me, is the kind of gotcha thing that people play games with. They get to red herring. If anything, he's way too far left. I don't think he's a Nazi. I think he got a tattoo when he was a teenager or something. He says he doesn't know what it was.

Even if he didn't, you know what? It's like you can't hold people responsible for what they did as a teenager. I think he was a teenager. Well, but except that, you know, he was caught lurking online and praising Hamas snuff film of them killing and torturing Israeli soldiers to death. I dig it, you know. I mean, he thinks he absolutely, absolutely praised Hamas what they've done in that. See, I see that as a leftist thing. Yeah.

I mean. Yeah, well, but my point, my point, though, and that doesn't, you. This is this idea, though. You know, all cops are bastards. You know, he's claimed that. Okay, see, I'm still getting educated on him. I know that. He said all cops right away.

And all rural people are racist and stupid. These are, I'm not insulting him. I'm just reflecting the things that he has proudly said online. And it's not a gotcha thing. It's just what's, that's who he is. and he's the guy that ran away from the primary. And he's going to be the senator in Maine. Because the only person he was running against on the Democratic side dropped out.

Correct, yeah. And there will be unlimited money there. And that's made possible because, you know, I don't think that's authentic. I think that's just someone that has extreme views. And that's just how is that? that qualifying of being part of this? Well, I would say that the two wings of the party that we keep talking about, there's talk to Trump, fuck Trump.

Those are the two wings. Well, no, to be clear, though, I mean, it's like here we are now. It's like, I don't care if you build a ballroom. That's bad. That's bad, punishing. You know, you've said, I'm a communist or all cops are bastards abolish ICE and all that other stuff. We're okay with that kind of agreeing, like, I don't care.

Build a ballroom that we do need that, that's damaging. But all these other extreme things seems pretty good to me. Yeah, you know, you seem like you're upbeat. I mean, you look good. You look healthy. Oh, I haven't. How's your, I felt so good just be, I'm going to just agree or vote for things that I think happen to be true. And it just, I sleep better.

I feel better. I don't carry this. Yeah. You know, a career isn't worth anything if I had spent that lying. I know what pays the bills as a Democrat right now. Fuck Trump, literally. And just agreeing to do things that we would never do those kind of things. And I've always refused to turn my back on the Jewish community and Israel because that's what history demonstrates that's consistently going to happen. The best thing about being honest is that you don't have to keep your lies in order. Do you know? You don't have to remember lives, you know, and that's priceless. Maybe that's a version of Bullworth or whatever, but I'm just, that's what I've decided to do. But your health is good because obviously you've had, you've had, never, never better.

Never better in every way. Physically, mentally, everything? What? Physically, mentally, everything? Yeah, yeah. You think all of that is behind you. Yeah, I just had. Oh, that's great.

The check out, actually, before I came out to the West Coast, yeah, and, you know, checked out. You know, absolutely. And I'm the luckiest guy alive. I mean, I'm coming up on, you know, when this drops, that would be essentially the fourth anniversary of when I died from that stroke. Right. And that was touch and go at that time. And I never thought, four years later, I'd be sitting in a chair talking to a guy that I always, and I could have been dead or I could have been...

So when you have a stroke, are you supposed to take aspirin? I'm asking for a friend. No, Will, I take a medical version of it. But is that the first? Yeah, it's called eloquist, and that's a blood thinner to make sure that doesn't happen. And then also what really brought to that was I suffer from aphib,

and that's kind of like a silent thing. Right. And that damaged the heart in a way. And the stress and of everything about that campaign, it all just converged. And that's when I was, I knew I felt terrible at that point. And I was going to just finish out the primary. And then I was going to immediately get checked out.

And the mistake was three days before the election, that's when the stroke hit. Do you have anxiety? About... Not anymore. No, about the... About the... About the...

About the... No, about whatever upcoming election. The kind of... Because once you go into an election season, whoever your opponent is, even the people on your own team in a primary, but then certainly the Republican, are going to say the worst sort of things about you.

I mean, I... I've lived through that. I've already been dead once, you know? Like, there's nothing. Like, it's... So you don't care what they say about you. It's very liberating in that... in that way. And what I'm saying, like, there's no real stress compared to whether if you're a

soldier in IDF or, you know, in our military, or you have families, you know, with a lot of these ability to feed themselves and all the thing compared to where I'm at, you know, there's, you know, just freeing to just, I happen to believe this is true. This is where I think the Democratic Party should exist in that way. And, you know, I'm tired of hearing lectures that, well, we need to be a big tent party, but except for this guy, you know, like, why? It's just common sense. Yeah.

And these are all. Having the courage to, you know, that having the courage to just be honest about these kinds of circumstances. And I think, I think that's what, what America, you know, really wants, except in the extreme kinds of spaces, but they have the largest and the loudest voices, and they rule in the primary parts and that, and, you know, eliminate, eliminate this idea of primarying because, and you just make it seem open primaries, and people will be accountable on both sides on the things that you say and the things that you vote and the things you say.

All right, John. Well, I know I have a special treat this week, because I get to see you on Friday also. You came in and for us at the last minute, I really appreciate that. Oh, hey, well, I mean, that's a treat. I was glad when I get to have my audience get to see you and see what you have to say because, again, people like us, we've got to fight for the megaphone. I mean, it is the crazier people who get, I feel like, more of the coverage. So, you know, I sure hope you run in 28 and, you know, I just hope you're on the scene a long time because I don't have a lot of allies, but you are one of my allies.

Well, I've been described as the lonely Democrat, but I feel a little less Democrat as a Democrat, you know, watching, watching your shows and your views because it's like, hey, a guy that are with our values haven't changed and the things have mutated in ways. And believe me, I'm sure you hear it too. We don't see a lot of it in the press because the press is, kind of captured by either fringe on either side, but I'm sure you have a life like mine. Wherever you go, people come up to you. All the time. All the time to try to tell you, please do what you keep doing because you're one of the few people I, you know, that means the world to me. Anyway, you mean a lot to me too.

Thank you, thank you. I'm glad you came by and saw my little crazy get up here. You saw this, the insults that he signed when I went to the White House? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Isn't that awesome?