Real Time with Bill Maher - Ep. #589: Ricky Williams, Vivek Ramaswamy, Marianne Williamson

Episode Date: February 12, 2022

Bill’s guests are Ricky Williams, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Marianne Williamson. (Originally aired 2/11/22)  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's something else here now. Something new. From. Exclusively on Paramount Plus. It's the series Stephen King calls scary as hell. Everything here is impossible, but it's also real. Sci-fi Vision calls it the best show streaming right now. We're running out of time and we still don't know the rules.

Don't miss what the movie blog calls something you need to watch. Saving those children is how we all go home. From binge all episodes exclusively on Paramount Plus. Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO late-night series, Real Time with Bill Maugh. I appreciate that. Look at this crowd has... Thank you very much.

Thank you. Oh, I can tell you. You got it. This crowd, I know, they have Super Bowl fever, and that's the only fever they have. I just watch it on there. No other fever is going to. Yeah, Super Bowl, in our city, very exciting.

Of course, for the Super Bowl, like you here, mask mandate. Still have the mask mandate for the Super Bowl. So local politicians prepare your apologies now. Because, yeah, yeah. We're one of the last dates to have this. But, yeah, Super Bowl, have to wear the mask, except when you're eating a drinking. Really.

Because in America, stuffing your face is a religious exemption. But here's the interesting thing. California, the mask mandate is off, except for L.A. County, well, some counties, but L.A. County. So if you're driving through, you'll have no mask, but when you hit the county line, you've got to put it on, except when someone gives you a hot dog, then you can take it off. What the CDC calls following the science. Yeah, well, most of the states now, though, are ditches. the mask mandates. But again, here it's spotty. San Francisco, as of this hour anyway,

still have the mask. Well, in San Francisco, you have to have the mask on when you're shoplifting indoors. But then you can get rid of it for your getaway. So, you know, this, it's a nuanced thing. But listen to this about the Super Bowl tickets. You know what the average ticket is? It's like over $8,000. When people talk about the nosebleed section now, they mean the luxury box with the cocaine going around. I tell you, the only thing that has made me feel better this week is watching the Olympics because, you know, for years we've been like China, oh, they're just kicking our ass here and they're ahead of this.

And China, this, China, that. And then I'm watching... It's like, what a dump. It's like, really? I mean, it's like if our showcase city... was Bakersfield, you know? That's what Beijing looks like. And, you know, it's also so corrupt.

Like, you know, Russia has been tossed out because they're cheaters, and they get caught doping every time. So they're officially not in the Olympics, but you know who's in the Olympics? Russia. Not as Russia. It's the Russian Olympic Committee.

When Putin invades Ukraine, he's going to say, it wasn't us. It was the Russian military. committee. We're not involved. But, of course, we are Americans. People want to know. How is Team USA doing?

Well, let's just say when they come back home, there's not going to be a big problem at the metal detector. Okay, that's all on the... Well, I mean, and that's... And that's why the ratings are way down, you know? When we don't do well, America, we don't watch. Just after.

Ask Afghanistan. But hey, let's talk about nice stuff. It's Valentine's Day. Oh, look at that. Oh, yes. Gets my heart every year. I read the most touching story this year about how two Gen Zs are celebrating together.

Well, not together, because they're afraid to go out with the virus. But they send beautiful cards. Well, not cards. one texted a heart emoji and another one texted back same. So it's a beautiful story. But here's something I don't understand.

43% I read this in a survey of singles now say that we should expand Valentine's Day to include the concept of self-love. No, but that's the... Does everything have to come around to be the opposite of what it fucking is? Nothing more... Yeah.

Nothing more romantic than a candlelight dinner over the sink. But... But I... I am going to end unhappy, not here tonight, if it kills me. No, I have one. Donald Trump, the first time, is way down with Republicans. Like, women Republicans, men Republicans, Republicans without white guys without college degrees, his base.

I'm talking about 20 points down. This is very big. good news. And we found out a new book says that when he was president, he used to routinely flush wads of paper down the toilet. And also, I think,

he used to take a shit in the document shredder. He may just have it... It looks like he may have been trying to hide things. Then, you know, when you're president, you're supposed to, when you leave, turn over all the papers to the archives, right? Trump took them with him to Mar-Alargo.

He wanted them, including the letter. Remember the love letters with Kim Jong-un? The letters that said things, Kim called him, Your Excellency. Kim said, our friendship will be like a magical force. He said, our next meeting is it going to be like a fantasy film? Really, that was in these letters. Now, you may ask yourself, what kind of idiot would fall for that kind of bullshit?

I say again, Trump took them with him to Mar-a-Lago. Not just that. Fifteen boxes. This is the people's property that he took with him that you're not supposed to take, including the love letters and the... Remember the hurricane map that he drew on with a Sharpie? Well, whatever it is, it's the people's property. And now it's going to the Smithsonian.

So the future... So... The weakest virtue signaling I've seen. all week. But, okay. But yes, this way future historians can look at it and go, what the fuck? All right, we've got a great show. We have Marianne Williamson and Rebecca. Ramoswami. But here up first, he is the former NFL star

and cannabis entrepreneur who just launched his new brand Heisman. Ricky, how are you? Great to meet you. Look at that. They love you. I was always a huge fan of you when you were playing, also when they wouldn't let you play. Yes. So are you a football fan? Of course. Yeah.

That's what's going to ask you. Are you still a fan? I mean, what is, I mean, obviously you have a checkered experience with football because you were a great player. Yeah. But they also fucked with you in a lot of ways. Can you watch this game? Do you watch this game?

Do you watch it with joy? Do you watch it with mixed feelings? You know, when a game is on, I can't help but get into it because I've done it my whole life. but if I'm being honest, sometimes I get a little PTSD because it's kind of a rough game. And when I was young and doing it, I didn't think so much of the consequences. But now that I'm older and looking back, you know, it's rough.

But I love the game. It taught me a lot. And, you know, when I was a kid, my goal was to be the best college football player I could be. I really had no aspirations to go to the NFL, but I had so much success that I went into the NFL. And it was like the moment I entered the NFL, I was like, that's when the nightmare started.

Nightmares. Yeah. Because they would not let you treat yourself. I mean, your body takes an awful punishing. You wanted to treat, I mean, this is sort of has echoes with what we're going through now with COVID. Yeah. The way some people don't want to treat themselves pharmaceutically. Yeah.

And you wanted to treat yourself with marijuana, which worked better than Paxil. A lot better. A whole lot better. But just the idea, you know, whether it's Paxil or that. anti-inflammatories, the NFL gives us, the whole idea is to shut ourselves off to the pain. Shut ourselves off to what's going on. And for me, that doesn't really work so well.

I'm more about turning on to it so I can actually deal with it. Well, but didn't the pot help you feel better? The pot helped me, so there's two things that I like to talk about with pot. First, the immediate effect of, I'm stressed out, my mind was tied in knots, I smoked a little bit, have a little bit more space, I'm more relaxed. That's short term, but if people are doing that to escape their issues, that feeling good turns into not feeling good over the long term. Right.

And what I found is after practice, I go home and smoke and, yeah, I feel better, but in that better feeling state, I start to reflect on my life and look at areas of my life where I'm like, man, I can't believe I said that to that person. So it made me want to be a better person. Right. And so it turned into a more of a longer effect of feeling good. Every week, 11 guys are trying to kill me. Yes.

Paid a lot of money to try to kill. I'm sure, yes. So what's your body like now? What's your body and your mind? Where do you think would they be any different if you hadn't played football? Well, I mean, obviously, but I think I'd be a lot worse if I didn't take the year off. When I left after I fell to drug test, because in that year off, I got to, I learned yoga, meditation, learned more about cannabis because I wasn't being tested all the time.

And so in that year off, I was able to find a way to take care of myself. And so when I came back and played another five years. It's amazing how. how resilient the body can be if you get out of its way in the right way? I mean, you don't look... I mean, I've seen a lot of football players, I mean, they look crumpled up. Yeah.

Olympic. You look fine. I would never guess you played football. I feel great. I mean, even my team, my heisman team, we had a softball, an intramural softball, and we've been playing softball, and so I'm still able to do all the things I want to do. I still practice yoga, Tai Chi. My body feels great.

My mind feels great. I'm an entrepreneur. Three startups. my mind's always moving. I love the name of your company, Heisman. Yeah. You get it? You get it? It's a great play on word.

And it must feel good. The thing that they threw you out of the league for, it's the thing that you're making money with now. You know, that feels great. What feels better is the thing that I had so much shame about. You know, because at least in my culture and then being an athlete, there wasn't really talk about medicinal marijuana

or this is good for you, it was, if you smoke pot, you're going to be a loser and you're going to get in trouble. And so when I failed the test and it came out that, you know, famous football player gives up everything for pot,

like, you know, I was like, is that what just happened? And so it didn't sit well with me. And so I wanted to research, like, what is it about this plant that I was willing to sacrifice so much for? Oh, I could tell you. Yeah.

But, um... I didn't know at the time, but I'm guessing you understood Oh, I did. I used to defend you all the time with that. Because anything that was a pot issue, of course, I was going to be out there for it. But I always admire your courage in doing that. And also, it struck me as rank hypocrisy because it's just, for football, it's just not a performance-enhancing drug.

For me, it is. Yeah. For you, I mean, like, I've heard now that a lot of the players take Adderall. That I get why that would be. a performance-enhancing drug for football, increases your concentration, your alertness, aggressiveness, right? Yeah, but it's legal.

And when I got to college, they got all of us on an arrow. Yeah, well, yeah, the pharmaceuticals were always illegal, and then there's always a street version, it's not. Yeah. So let's talk about some other people who had trouble with football, Colin Kaepernick. Yes. Now that everybody is kneeling,

I still don't understand why he never got another job. It seems like we passed that point where what he did was, how dare you, into controversial, into we're all doing it now. Yeah. The owners do it. Yeah. Well, my attitude about that is, and this is the attitude I took with cannabis in the NFL, is they said you can't do this, and I said, well, bye.

And so my thing with Colin Kaepernick is he's made a name for himself beyond anything I think he could have ever done in football. That's something that's bigger than football. And for me, I always scratched my head. Why does he want to go back into that place and play? Why not keep going and doing all these amazing things he's doing? He had that show on Netflix. He's just doing a lot of really cool stuff.

Yeah, a lot of people can have a show on Netflix. He was in the Super Bowl. Was he not? He was in the Super Bowl. I mean, when you're in an elite athlete, I mean, I don't think anyone I certainly can't understand. I think only you guys can understand each other. But it's a very short window when you do, because you see people who are just in their early 30s. they've peaked and they were like, wow, this guy was the greatest.

And now he's one of the greatest in the world, but he's not right on that. It's such a fine razor's edge. And if you can be on it for those few years where you can, it's got to be the greatest high in the world. So I understand why he wanted it. To a certain extent. But like, for instance, in what you do, what if your career only lasted until 40?

Is like, what are you going to do the rest of the year? That's the great thing about comedy. You can do it to year a fucking hundred. And the thing about football, is, at least to how I've come to terms, is the football is a platform. It's a platform because even Tom Brady, right, my age 44, just retired,

he still has approximately half of his life left. Right. And so, and I had a coach. He said, if you're only known for what you do on the football field at the end of your life, then you didn't live a fulfilling life. Right. And so, and this is really why I'm launching Heisman

is to take everything I've learned, not just about football, but through football, and about life. sharing that message. And my, you know, my favorite thing to say when people talk about this brand is it's not about a trophy, it's about getting high. Here, here. Okay, well, the other guy who's in the news lately for getting kicked out of the NFL, seems like they do that a lot. Yeah. As Brian Flores, he was the coach of the Dolphins, he's got a lawsuit against the NFL now. He says it to sham when they pretend to, interview black coaches for the job. There's only one black coach in the league.

Mike Tomlin of the Steelers, although next year there'll be three. But it's still a small amount out of 32 teams. Now, I was a minority owner of the Mets at one point. So I did sit on one owner's meeting. That's three hours I will never have back.

It was super boring. It was about how much parking costs and, you know. It's my view these guys just are interested in money and making money and also winning. They want to be a hero in their hometown. So I'm not saying there isn't

bias in their minds, but it's got to be unconscious, right? Because if they thought they could make more money with the key hire which is the coach, I mean, it's hard to believe in 2022. Even some old white owner would be like, you know, I know this black coach is the best

but I just don't like looking at him so much. I'm going to risk losing the season. Is that, what are you make of what's going on? My opinion is I kind of understand, you know, that the relationship between an owner and a coach is a very special relationship. And my guess is a lot of the owners

don't really spend a lot of time around black people. That's probably right. And so they're just like, it's just uncomfortable. Like, I don't like, how do I talk to him? And, you know, you're making this big investment and, you know, this big company. Right. I understand you want to hire someone

that you can relate to or you feel you can relate. But does Jerry Jones really care? I mean, he wants to win so bad because he wants to be the big hero. He wants to ride in the parade on the big hat in Dallas. And is he really talking... I mean, it's the coach and the players

who are 70% black. That's what matters. You'd think that they would want to hire a black coach if they thought that that would produce a better result. I think if you could convince them of that, they would. They would. But even still, if we still, If we said, okay, we want to hire an African-American coach that we think is going to give us a shot to win,

what were they going to hire? Because they don't get a lot of opportunities. They don't get a lot of opportunities to show what they can do. But it's such a small pool that they're choosing from, right? I mean, they almost always come from the ranks of assistant coaches. Right. And it's their business. They know all these people, right?

Even before they can. The owners don't. The owners don't? The owners don't. The owners don't. They don't. Okay. They don't.

So what do you think about the part of it where he says that he was paid to tank games so that they could get a better draft position? Well, is it true? I mean, I don't know. I wasn't there, but I wouldn't doubt it because of what you said, right? Money. Money and they want to win. And if you tank and you get a first pick, right, you have a better chance, you have a better chance to win. And I also think that's part of it because that's the way that they think. Okay.

And when they're talking to African Americans, like, they don't know how African Americans. can stink. And so, and you see what happened. He mentioned this to African American coach. African American coach ratted him out. Right? Isn't that what happened? Well, enjoy the game tomorrow. It's great to meet you. Yes, thank you. And I hope I get to enjoy your product

sometime with you. Well, we left some for you. So you really did. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Ricky Williams. Let's meet our panel. There they are. All right. Here is time. Just lawyer, a former biocheck. So you have now a bestselling author of woke inside corporate America's

Justice Gann Vivek. Ramoswamy is over here. How you doing? Nice to meet you. Good to meet you. And she's a political activist and best-selling author who writes for a substax transform with Marianne Williamson. Marion Williamson who ran for presidents. Okay.

How are you guys doing tonight, okay? All right. So I want to talk about Canada to start off because I feel like the eyes of the world are on them. And we don't talk about Canada enough. We should. Because our show's been on in Canada for a long time. but we're so, you know, Americans, we're chauvinistic about our own country.

There's stuff going on up there. Well, now everybody's looking at Canada because there's this giant trucker protest. I guess, see, I wasn't that into it for the first couple of weeks of it because it looked like it was just a small group of people, and it is a minority. It was first about vaccine mandates. The truckers have to get, 90% are vaccinated,

but they're crossing the border. This goes both ways. some of them then when they started the protests had Nazi flags which of course is going to look bad and is bad but I don't know sometimes the Nazi flag means I'm a Nazi and sometimes it means

you're a Nazi I'm calling you a Nazi so I don't know what this is but it's not the most of the people there what's happening this week it looks like is people are understanding that this is about something more than just the vaccine it's becoming a big thing it's happening all the world now. They think it might happen here in Washington on Super Bowl Sunday. Do you agree it's about something more? And if so, what?

Look, I think it is about something more. If you think this is about vaccine mandates or about white supremacy, you're missing the point. And this isn't a left or right issue. This is about an uprising of everyday citizens in democracies around the world. It's not just Canada. It's not the United States. It's Western Europe, too, rising against the biggest threat to actual democracy, which I think is the rise of this managerial class. in democracies around the world that are crushing the will of everyday people through bureaucracies. And it's the same people, by the way, Bill, who staff corporate boards of directors, who end up as associate deans of universities, who then end up being appointed as diplomats abroad.

These are the unelected class of leaders that ultimately, I think, are using their bureaucratic power to supplant the will of everyday, not only Americans, but Canadians and Western Europeans too. And that's why we're seeing a fusion of both the left and the right here saying that, actually we want our voices heard. We want to be able to speak without fear of putting food on the dinner table. And you know what? The beautiful thing about a democracy is that so far, thank God, this has been a peaceful set of protests. I hope it stays that way.

That's part of the messiness of democracy. That's part of what makes it beautiful. You were ready for that one. I've been watching it. I agree that democracy is messy. And that's the price you pay in a way for free society. As long as we're going to honor free expression. protest is important, but also protest is inherently disruptive.

So the line we have to find for ourselves is where does disruption become harm? These people have spoken. They have expressed themselves. They have a lot of passion behind their message, obviously. And what the Canadian government and any government has to then balance is at what point does this now move over into more than your grievances, but the grievances of people such as workers in Detroit and elsewhere who are finding economic harm because of the, these protests. I think it's interesting this issue of our looking at

Canada, because, you know, these protesters are not attacking their capital and their government is not bringing out. They're not attacking the building. I mean, they're in Ottawa, they're in front of the capital, but they're not attacking the capital building. Right.

Well, they're not trying to stop an election. Well, but my point is there's no violence on what they're doing, even though Swastikas are not funny. Right. I mean... But those are outliers there. Yes, I don't My point is that in a way we get to see that this can be done in a way that does not bring violence with it. And I think for Americans, it's actually something to look at there. But I'm asking about the bigger issue here.

It's like why did this, and why truckers? And I thought, you know, like during the pandemic, you know, I talked about this many times. You know, we would see these ed. We're all in it together. And I think, no or not. No or not. there are some people who stay home and some people who bring them the food.

You know, if you're just ordering Amazon and you don't ever have to go out and your job you can do remotely, but who's bringing the Amazon things? The trucker. You know, it was just, it looked, you did not use that word elitist in your whole speech,

but, like, that's the word that I think is on people. tongues and minds, and, I mean, that certainly is what populists, including bad ones like Trump, play on. But there is this idea, and it's not wrong, that some people are staying home in their lulu lemons, and other people... And, you know, can afford to, like, wait out and get a free vacation and money from the government. And other people can't. And they're pissed off the people who can't. I think you're totally right about that, Bill? I will say one more thing, though, is it goes, I think one step beyond that is this is also, furthermore, a group of people who have further by the elites been excluded in the name of capital I inclusion.

And so I was a biotech CEO after the George, when the George Floyd protest played out in 2020, I was still a biote CEO back then. Back then, every institutional elite in America, in other countries around the world, but especially in America, would step up and say, what we need to do is we need to listen and open our hearts and minds. and I think those same institutional leaders would now do well to take a page from that playbook in listening to these truckers too. Actually listen to what they have to say. I mean, Justin Trudeau. What?

You laugh at it. But Justin Trudeau, I mean, I thought he was kind of a cool guy. And I started to read what... He said, this is a couple of weeks ago. He was... Or maybe this is September. But he was talking about people who are not vaccinated. He said, they don't believe in science. They're often misogynistic, often racist.

No, they're not. That was not smart of him at all. Right. He said, but they take up space. And with that, we have to make a choice in terms of a leader as a country. Do we tolerate these people? It's like, tolerate these. Now you do sound like Hitler.

And recently, he talked about holding unacceptable views. Wow. I'm surprised to hear that Trudeau said those things. You didn't see the black face? I mean, he's fair. No, I'm kidding. I'm not, I mean, I was not a good look for him.

But, I mean, come on. I mean, that's, I think, what gets under people's skin. And I was reading also, who got the money from the Paytech Protection Program? You know, this is our $800 billion. That's kind of a lot, okay, that we gave out. Only about a quarter of the money spent by the program paid wages that would have otherwise been lost. So three quarters of it didn't do of 800 billion.

And then 72% of the relief money ended up in the hands of people with incomes, household incomes, in the top 20%. I think this is what the truckers are mad at. Not that they know these exact statistics, but 20, 20, all that money end up the people who are in the top 20%? The people who got loans for $1.5 million and over got a quarter of the money. This is so outrageous. Donald Trump's personal lawyer, his law firm, got a $10 million loan. This is what people are angry at because the system is so corrupt. The system is so corrupt.

And it's not just corporate elites. It's the corporate elites who are corrupting the system because of the money that corporations, their undue influence on a very, very, very corrupt. corrupt government. This corruption is so baked into the cake, and of course people are angry. People are enraged, and they are legitimately enraged. It's so baked into the cake that is bipartisan. It is bipartisan in that.

There are differences, big differences. We may have and agree about that. I think there are big differences between Democrats and Republicans, but this kind of stuff, they're kind of on the same team. No, I'm sorry, go ahead. The Republicans started it, but the Democrats haven't stopped it. And at this point, the Republicans don't even pretend to And the main difference between the Democrats is that they do pretend to care.

This has to do, that's the main difference between the parties that is true. When you look at those people, when you look at those people who could afford to stay home with their Lulu Limits, what has happened with this? It's interesting to note with that PPP loan data. The small business administration tried to keep it secret. They said because of privacy, they didn't want to let out the numbers. And the judge said, oh, no, the people need to know this and made those numbers. numbers public. So what's happening is that people are getting the receipts for what we have been

feeling for so long. This kind of economic injustice, this kind of structural rigging so that whenever there's a problem, take care of the people who already have, and then the rest of people who don't have, well, good luck, we'll drop a few crumbs to you. It's been going on for decades. People have felt it. They've acted on it. And now we're getting the receipt. It was saying, yeah. We sent our stimulus check back. There's no, there's a economic stimulus check we got. We sent it back.

This is not meant for people like us. But I think that actually at the end of the day, this is about a merger of government and private enterprise that together is actually far more dangerous than either one. BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager managing over $10 trillion, got the deal to administer much of the COVID-19 stimulus. And many of their alumni now staffed the administration. And so I think that this is, you're right. It's not a left-wing issue. It's not a right-wing issue. It is a rejection of this marriage of the private sector and government.

And you know what we live in the moment of social distancing? What I think is actually we need more social distancing between capitalism and democracy. Let the private sector operate. Let government operate. Keep them apart from one another day. There is a word for it when government is so tied, is so married to corporate interests.

That word is fascism. Right. Amen. That is the actual definition of fascism. But it's, but you know, in the system we have, it is just two sides. And we don't seem to be able to break that mind. We never seem to be able to have a third party that's successful.

I was reading, this is a Bloomberg survey of, like, who is on whose side, basically. This is by profession. Who votes for who? So interesting, the way that two parties do this doce doce do, where they completely switch. Democrats, professors, people like professors, therapists, lawyers, bankers, of course, teachers, government workers. Those used to be the, you know, other side. Republicans, truck drivers, construction workers.

carpenters, cops, maintenance people, the blue-collar guy. Does it always have to be that you can't be both, that you can't appeal to both? That you have to, we can switch sides, but you can't appeal to both. Well, the Democratic Party used to be unequivocally, the power that stood for the rights and the needs and the safety and the well-being of the working people of the United States of America. That's what Democrats used to be. People like you and I have an institutional memory of a time when they were that.

At this point, because there is so much that's performative, because there's so much that's promising, people know that the system is so unbalanced. We have the largest income inequality in the history of our country. We have, of all advanced nations, the highest poverty rate. Of all advanced nations, we have the highest incarceration rate. One out of four people can't even afford to fulfill the prescription that their doctors gave them. Of all advanced democracies, we're pretty much the other one, the only one that doesn't have universal health. And people are looking, is anybody going to help us here?

Well, the reason they're not, though, is, and I think that there are more cynical forces at work here is there is this arranged marriage between big government and big business after the 08 financial crisis. Because what happened is big business back then the big business that used to support the Republican Party, they realized that actually the biggest threats to their power used to come from Democrats. So Wall Street didn't like Occupy Wall Street. Guess what they said?

We're going to now embrace the new woke movement, the new neo-progressive movement, and use that to put Occupy Wall Street up first. adoption. Silicon Valley used to hear the fact that actually Democrats are the ones that want to break us up. So you know what? We'll start using our platforms to censor views that you don't like so that you don't come back to us. And both sides bill are duped into submission

by this woke industrial complex where liberals look the other way because they like the values they're pushing. What a clever way. Conservatives for that matter just, they look the other way because they say the free market can do no wrong and both sides are actually duped by this new monster. What a clever way you've got to plug in for your book.

The whole time was in there. The trackers have been in the context of your book. The person has been in the context of your book. Everything is the context. You got me. No lubricant just right. You're late to this, though. Wow.

Okay. I'm going to get, I'm going to bring it up in two seconds, but let me interrupt to bring up. Just before I don't lose track of time. I mention this in the monologue. I want to say it again because I'm clinging to little pieces of hope. Trump is so down in his own party. This has not happened before. I mean, I could read you the numbers, but it's like startling numbers.

Over 20% among his key groups, not the other groups. Okay. So, apparently what he's doing is because he realizes the handwriting, maybe on the wall, maybe he's not going to be present again. He's looking around for another gig this weekend. This is true. He was DJing at Mar-a-Lago. And see, there it is.

And he DJs under the name Fat Boy Dim. and he we got a hold his playlist is a little different we got a hold of it would you like to hear some of the I knew you would I knew you would for example

fuck the Capitol police is one of his this this land's not your land don't stop a grieving is one of his big hits hot for bleacher I like that one 50 ways to leave your daughter. Gotta get me into your wife.

Mr. Tangerine man. Working four to five. How can you mend a broken vending voting machine? Whatever. And, of course, where the tweets have no shame. All right. So, I'm sorry. I interrupted you.

You were entering his, what we were making fun of him for a but you did it beautifully. Your book is Woking. And the thesis is basically that corporation should stick to making widgets and not take political positions. Does that include every

issue? Because what about when they're involved in the issue like being polluters? Yes, so look, I think it generally applies to most issues, nearly all issues. And I say it not because I want them to be more efficient at making widgets. That's what Milton Friedman right has said. I say it because I actually care about the integrity

of a democracy where every person's voice and vote ought to count equally irrespective of how much power they wield in the marketplace. And I think that most of these corporations are doing it cynical. They are blowing smoke to deflect attention. Give me an example of what you mean. Is this like when Kendall Jenner

was selling Pepsi by handing the Pepsi to the cop at the protest? I think it was absolutely that, but I just don't want to pick on Pepsi. It's Coke, too. Their competitor, who does the same thing, where they trade in their employees on how to be less white. That's their language, not mine. while doing nothing about the impact of their own products on diabetes and obesity,

including in the black community, that they profess to care so much about. So it's a sham. And I think that the sham doesn't work if we're actually able to see through it. Now, some people do it authentically, too. And I'm more sympathetic to the authentic cases. But even in the authentic cases, I have an issue with it, which is that it tells the ordinary Americans that it's the judgments of elite corporate leaders that matter more than your judgments.

That's the way Old World Europe used to work. Church leaders, labor leaders, business leaders used to get together in a smoke-filled room and decide what was right for the rest of society. That's not the way we do it in America. The way we do it is every person's voice counts in it for it. But if I understand, if I understand what you're saying, though,

you are a great proponent of what you call stockholder capitalism, as opposed to stakeholder capitalism, which is, I understand it is just trickle-down economics. It's just reganomics. It's that the only responsibility of the corporation is the fiduciary responsibility to its stockholders. even at the expense of stakeholders,

at the expense of the environment, at the expense of the community, this is unfettered, unregulated capitalism. That is not the answer to our problems. That is our problem. I respectfully disagree with that, actually. Because I'm sympathetic to where you're coming from there, but I think that we ought to sort out the right way to work out racism,

is it to apply a quota system, or is it something else? The right way to fight climate change, is it to make higher prices for consumer goods or something else? Those ought to be debated in a democracy, through free speech and open debate in the public square without elite corporate intervention. And one last thing about the, I know you're in for president of the Democratic Party. You're actually one of my favorite candidates. Thank you.

But I want to say this is it was a... But you're not a Democrat. I'm not a Democrat, but you were actually probably my favorite candidate, to be really honest about it. But liberals in 2010, a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party, had to say that they were opposed to citizens united. That was the case that allowed corporations to influence elections through campaign contributions.

Guess what? I think this new stakeholder capitalism trend is, Citizens United on steroids. I understand. Because it doesn't just allow corporations to make those donations. It demands that they influence politics in ways that actually crush the will of everyday people.

The main influence of these corporations on our politics, I agree with you about the bullshit of the system. Where I disagree with you is that you're covering up and apologizing for the mendacity of the system. That stockholder capitalism does have an undue influence on our country, mainly through its undue financial influence

to donations on our government. It is the corruption of our government. I agree with you about the corruption of the culture. But what I'm mainly concerned is how it corrupts our government through money. So let me give you a specific example. What about, now, here's... Everybody knows what happened with Joe Rogan. He's got in big trouble once, then twice.

It's like once he was vulnerable one thing, they went in for the kill with the other. It's like when you get a bull down. You know, you're like, now he's bleeding. We're going to get him with this other. Okay, so Daniel Eck is the CEO of Spotify. That's what Joe Rogan is on. He said, no, he's not getting rid of Joe Rogan.

But he did say they're going to be giving, I'm committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music from historically marginalized groups. That made me laugh. Because it's like, thank God we're going to be able to help some black people break into the music industry. That is long overdue

for the... I mean, what the fuck does that mean? A hundred historically marginalized groups? I saw this same trip played by Silicon Valley venture capitalists, by the way. They phrased it a little differently. In the wake of George Floyd, they're going to actually invest in companies led by persons of color. They didn't say historically marginalized.

They said persons of color. Why? Because they're already investing in companies led by Indian Americans or Asian Americans, and they're just counting that towards the quota. So again, this is just a way of appeasing the greatest threats to a capitalist's power by feeding them enough breadcrumbs that makes them go away. But there's something more there. A hundred million dollars is not nothing.

And I agree with you. It's covering their ass about the Joe, Joe Bowman. And I agree with you about the bullshit of the overwokenness. I don't disagree with that. A hundred million dollars that's... Where does it go? Well, I don't understand what this... Is this finding a tribe in the Amazon and giving them a record deal?

I don't know. Well, I'll tell you. It has to do with podcasts that would have to do it. with black history, Latino history, history of the United States is untold by certain official narratives. It's not nothing. Why is that Spotify's job?

I mean, it's just selling indulgences. It's what the church used to do. You ought to get into heaven. It's going to cost you. And you don't have to be it. That's all this is. I mean, it's... Spotify's job is to host different, diverse views,

and you actually want to embrace diversity? Great. Joe Rogan gives you diversity. Host different views. Okay, so this is the issue of should or should not there would be an ethical moral center to capitalism. And you're saying, if I understand you, correct me if I'm wrong, that capitalism should be amoral. So I say that, Marian, in one narrow context,

because I think virtue is a precondition for capitalism to work. Virtue is not a product of capitalism. That's what Adam Smith said. But that's why capitalism is falling apart. So, well, I think that... That's why the whole system is falling apart, because it has no moral system. The problem is upstream. That's why people have had it with the capitalism. It is a toxic capitalism that has no moralism.

So I think we have disagreed only by a little bit. Because I think capitalism works if people want what they actually need. And capitalism fails when our wants diverge from our actual needs. And so social media companies are able to prey on our insecurities. We should solve those psychic insecurities upstream in the family through education. Then capitalism ends up being a more beautiful system to distribute goods. It's very nice. It's very nice that you think that everybody should have this wonderful voice within the public sphere.

When people are so shackled economically, when you have 40 million people who are living in poverty, when you have people who are 8 years old, 10 years old already locked out because they haven't been taught to read and their chances of incarceration are greater than their chances for high school, then when they see the incredible way that our tax code serves the very, very rich and every other thing we're talking about, whether it's PPP or anything else, where it's so unfair, where do you think they're supposed to express themselves? I think they're supposed to express themselves as citizens, because in a democracy, each of our voices and votes are weighted equally. But you know what? At the end of the day, I agree with you that people are frustrated through their disempowerment. But these capitalists, these whole corporations are the ones giving the donations to these political parties.

Look, I say social distancing. I don't like campaign contributions anymore than the next guy. But one thing I will say about you is actually campaign contributions and spending in political elections don't work nearly as well as you think they would. Michael Bloomberg's, oh, nearly a billion dollars. You probably got more votes than he did. I'm more worried about the other problem with, which is effectively through the back. Before we run in that time, because I say one thing. Spotify. He's here, too.

That's okay. I'm happy. No, no. Hey. They pay me the same, whether I'm involved in the fight or not. Spotify doesn't pay its artists now. That's the point. That's the point.

You know what they should do? that hundred million dollars. Pay the people who are on you now. That's correct. I agree with that. I mean, you could have the biggest hit record, and Spotify, you'll get a check at the end of the year for like $12,000. At the end of the day,

we shouldn't expect anything different from these companies. They're going to do what allows them to aggregate the most profit and power. We shouldn't have any different of an expectation. Fix government. Oh, I do. Fix our culture. That's what we should focus. I totally disagree with you. And I think the fact that there is no more

You're going to have to... Insurance companies, insurance companies are why we do not have universal health care, pharmaceutical companies, or why people cannot even afford their drugs. Oil companies are why there's oil extraction. Now you've opened up a big... To say...

Thank you. Thank you. I know. The military and industrial complex is why we have these spectacular military miscarriage. Right. But to say insurance companies are the only reason we don't have universal health care. You're saying the influence of big insurance companies

is not the primary reason we do not have universal wealth care? I'm saying there's a lot of people in that mess. It's not just it, not that I give a fuck about insurance companies. But that's a very narrow way to look at it and we don't have time. I have to go to new rules.

But there's a lot of people, including the people who write those bills. Who are paid, who receive campaign donations from their corporate overlords, that merit being. Lobbyists and lots of other reasons. All I would say, I think three of us are in agreement. Let's restore democracy where we actually disentangle capitalism from democracy.

We're heading to a good place. Time for new rules, everybody. New rules. That just doesn't have to do it. All right, the next time, New Rule, the next time Vladimir Putin meets Emmanuel Macron, they need a smaller table. Boy, at least America never had a leader who let the furniture make him look stupid. New Rule, Japanese artist Sashi, has to tell us her secret to making her 3D cat portraits look so realistic.

Actually, never mind. Neural, now that Dune has been nominated for 10 Oscars, someone has to tell me, why does everyone in science fiction live in the desert? Is it for the schools? Better parking? Taxes? You have spaceships. Leave. Oh, and by the way, you're wearing your masks wrong.

New Rule, if England enters its third, month of being enraged at Boris Johnson for going to an office party, the whole country has to get sacked by Vikings. To remind them of when they had real white people problems. Here's the punishment for going to an office party. You're at an office party. New rule, someone has to explain to the butterfly sanctuary in Texas that had to close down due to constant harassment from QAnon conspiracy night.

who believed it was a front for human traffickers. You can't put all the blame on Q&O. Your snack bar could have done a little better job in explaining that the kid's meal was a meal for kids. And finally, new rules, stop saying that Whoopi Goldberg getting yanked from the view right after she attacked me on the view is karma.

There's no such thing as karma. Sorry. Sorry, but life is random. The only word to describe it when a big game hunter gets trampled by an elephant and then eaten by lions is hilarious. I mentioned this karma stuff on the show last week because I was relating how many texts

and emails I got from people congratulating me on receiving a carmogram from the universe in the form of Whoopi Goldberg's chastisement. So I thought this would be a good time for a little tutorial on karma, which, as Americans understand it, is nothing more than an extension of the common logical fallacy called post hoc ergo proctor hocks,

which means after that, because of that. It's the fallacy that happens when someone assumes that if one thing follows another, then the first thing must have caused the second thing. Like, I wore green socks every day last year, and I never got into a car accident. Green socks must prevent car accidents. People make this mistake all the time,

but honestly, washing your car doesn't really make it rain. If it did, we would have tried it here by now. But this is how Americans see karma. But karma is not a system of reward and punishment. That's Catholicism. Karma is a Sanskrit word, meaning action. You make the conscious choice to put good out into the world.

Karma is the memory of our souls, the sum of a person's actions in previous. states of existence that decide their fate in future existences. Now, of course, that's all bullshit, too. I mean, I mean, reincarnation, really? If that was real, wouldn't we have some evidence by now? A raccoon spelling out in acorns? Help me!

My name is Herb Zaller, and I got trapped in this raccoon body. I have a meeting next week, and I can't show up as a raccoon. So, yes, the Buddhist version of karma is, well, certainly unprovable, but at least it's a beautiful, positive thought. But what Americans did was take karma, and like everything else in this hateful, spiteful country, turning it into something bitter and nasty. We use it like, you took the last cupcake, and God will have my revenge.

Ellen was mean to her staffers, and then she lost her show. Karma! You voted for Trump, and now you have COVID. Karma, now die. We took something that was meant to be gentle, kind, and hopeful, and turned it into a Tarantino movie. Someone did you wrong, and then sometime later, something bad happened to them.

Karma. No, something bad was bound to happen to them at some point because they're alive. If you keep living, some bad things will happen. Only in this dumb country do we all make it about ourselves and connect the two and call it karma. You stole the parking spot I was waiting for at Trader Joe's. Enjoy your early onset dementia.

No. What Americans really mean when we say karma, the foreign word that really describes our feeling, is not found in Sanskrit. It's found in German. Shadenfreude, meaning getting pleasure out of someone else's misfortune. But your old high school boyfriend didn't wind up a janitor

because he dumped you a week before the prom. He's a janitor because he got 600 on his SATs. And Whoopi Goldberg getting suspended by the view is in karma, and I wouldn't want it if it was. People have to learn to disagree in this country and not hate for it. Whoopi said I was flippant and immoral for saying it's time to chuck the masks and get back to normal. Well, are 43 states here in America and the entire nations of England, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, flippant because they're saying the same thing now.

COVID is so much more complicated than just, I'm for more safety than you are, therefore I'm a better person. But Whoopi is misinformed on many aspects of the COVID debate. After she got it recently, she said that being vaccinated, quote, doesn't stop Omicron, and that's the problem of the variant because it gets stronger. Actually, it usually gets weaker,

as is the case with this one. But that's okay. she's allowed to be wrong. Fuck, it's 11 a.m. Who can think clearly at that hour? I'm still in REM sleep. And as I mentioned last week, how could a nation, like America,

have maintained an apartheid state for the vast majority of its history and expect the views of the races to match on all matters? It's amazing they match on any. Whoopi Goldberg shouldn't have to conform to or apologize for her views on race, as much as I disagree with them.

And she certainly shouldn't have to sit out like a child and think about what she did. The view, suspending someone for sharing a view, it's like firing Pat Sejack for selling a vowel. We have got to get past this endless, unforgiving, zero-tolerance mindset bent on punishing and disappearing anyone caught saying the wrong thing. The right response to speech you don't like is more speech.

Not the lazy, cowardly responsive canceling people. This is a big country with lots of people who don't think like you. We all only need to agree on free speech itself. That's my religious belief. That's the timeless principle I live by. I don't like what Whoopi said about race. She didn't like what I said about COVID. So what?

The real essence of karma, by the way, is non-attachment, letting shit go. It's very zen. Oh, and by the way, no one knows what that means either. All right, that's our show. I'll be at the Fox Theater in Oakland tomorrow, February 12th, at the Smart Financial Center in Triggerland, Texas, April 9th, and at the Tulsa Theater in Tulsa, April 10th.

I want to thank. Rema Smarmi, Marianne Williamson, and Ricky Williams. Now go to YouTube and join us on overtime. Catch all new episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher every Friday night at 10. Or watch them anytime on HBO on demand. For more information, log on to HBO.com.