Real Time with Bill Maher - Ep. #686: Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Rahm Emanuel, Fareed Zakaria

Episode Date: March 1, 2025

Bill’s guests are Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Rahm Emanuel, Fareed Zakaria (Originally aired 2/28/25) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO late-night series, Real Time with Bill Maugh. But really what we care about here in Los Angeles, it's an Oscar weekend. We're getting ready for the Oscars on Sunday. Look how excited you are. Well, come on, it is. Oscar, get Oscar fever. Tonight's tonight, by the way, the Friday before. When everyone gets their ribbon, you know, they all wear a ribbon to show support for a cause they have. And now it's Kanye's problem.

to pin it on his wife. Tonight also is the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim Holy Month, a full month of fasting and prayer, which is the same thing the nominees do the month before. The Oscars. But I, come on, I love the Oscars.

It's one of our last communal experiences, right? Where we celebrate movies and say as one people, no, I haven't heard of the Oscars. that one either. I mean, there's literally a nominee this year called, I'm still here. Really, I...

I assume it's a sequel to Netflix since, are you still watching? So, all right, so, but what else is going on? Not much. What? What? Nothing comes to mind. Oh,

In World War III, news were on the other side now. I don't know if you heard that. This today was, well, I have to show you this. Zelensky was in the Oval Office to discuss the big turnaround that the country has done where Trump says, now he's the dictator. And Ukraine invaded Russia. Interesting.

And it devolved into this shouting match, which I'm sure Trump thinks is good TV. You have to see it to believe it. So let's take a look at a little of this. Don't tell us what we're going to feel If you didn't have our military equipment This war would have been over in two weeks In three days

I heard it from Putin in three days It's going to be a very hard thing to do business like this Have you said thank you once This entire meeting? No in this entire meeting have you said thank you Real housewives of the white And then afterwards It's a press conference and a reporter asked Trump Said do you still believe that Zelenskyy is

the dictator? And Trump said, did I say that? I can't believe I said that. Also, those tariffs. Who ordered those tariffs? I mean, the problem we have is the man is running this country, who is running this country, is hell-bent on sewing

chaos, and Trump is doing nothing to stop him. Elon. Elon, come back. Come back to normal, Elon. What the fuck happened? Really? I mean, Elon sent out an email to every single federal worker this that said, name five things,

you've done this week, or you are fired. And a lot of people took this as a direct threat to Congress. I mean, is there bloat in the government? Yes, I've said it here many times. Yes, and we should get rid of it, and we've already tried. But, I mean, air traffic controllers they're getting rid of and first responders and disease experts and nuclear scientists. The Parks Department this week got rid of a thousand people.

Smoky the Bear is now working at it. Starbucks. Oh my gosh. I don't want to say federal workers are on edge, but today I saw my dog growling at the mailman, and the mailman bit him. I mean, you know, I think what bugs people more than the fact that this isn't working is just the glee that they take in it. I mean, Musk is always up there now with a chainsaw. He was at CPAC with a chainsaw. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, chainsaw. And Bobby Kennedy saw it and said, oh, good, well for dinner. But you know what? This is not going to come out well for them. There's already a lot of blowback. They are realizing that, yes, you elected the bull in the China shop, and we're the China. This is even going on with

Republicans. It was a town hall, and the Republicans were screaming at each other. And so one of them finally stood up and said, please, people, we're all in the same cult. Okay, I could go on with everything that happened this week, but one more. Trump says, now we're making, for the first time in America, an official language. It will be English. That will be the official language.

Wow. First, he comes for the non-binary. Now he's coming for the bilingual. Not a great week for Amelia Perez. It means Akaria. Oh, that's going to be great. First up, she is the former deputy prime minister of Canada, now a candidate to be its next Prime Minister,

the Honorable Christia Freeland. Great to see you. All Canada. All right. You look like you are in full campaign mode there. I am. And if there are any Canadians here? Oh, I know there are.

They're not all Canadian. They're not all Canadian. Well, you are going to be the next Prime Minister of Canada. And we're very proud here because you were on our show many times in the past. When you're the finance. You are the finance minister just until recently, right? That's right. When you were on our show, what was your title?

I was the U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times. The Financial Times. Well, you're moving up in the world, and now you're going to be the, I guess, the governor of our 51st state. Never, never that campaigning for. And I want to be really, like, clear bill, because Canadians, we started off being sad because Americans like, you're our friends, you're our neighbors, and it was just a shock for Canadians.

But then Canadians got really angry because the president of the United States is saying repeatedly that he wants to use economic coercion to force us to become the 51st state. I mean, do you take it seriously or do you think it's just trope? No, I take it seriously, and Canadians do too. I am in full campaign mode, and so a couple of weeks ago I was in a small city called Saskatoon.

And a little four-year-old girl came up to me with her mother. Her name was Ari. And she said to me, in the serious way a little four-year-old can, can you stop Trump from invading Canada? So right now, we are a country where four-year-old children are saying, how do we stop this guy from invading my country? Okay, so I have a question for you. Can you stop Trump from invading Canada?

I never thought you and four-year-old girls from Saskatoon had that much in common bill, but I'll tell you what, yes, I can. And not because of me, but because of Canadians. You know, Canadians... People who, you know, wear our flag on our lapel. But right now, there is this wave of people. patriotism across Canada.

Hockey fans are just like singing, oh Canada. Restaurants are pulling U.S. wine from their menu. Snowbirds, it's a cold winter, but snowbirds are not flying south. I'm wearing a Tim Horton cap these days. That's good!

I can't like that. I'm Team Drake. How about that? But, I mean, the truth is, this has helped your campaign. I mean, you are the liberals. Now, this is, you're about to have the primary basically is how we would describe it. If you get that, because Trudeau's out, he's already quit, you were in his cabinet, you would become then the liberal leader. And then in the election,

if you won, the liberals were way behind in the polls until Trump did this. He kind of saved your ass. Is that not true? I think that the election now, the ballot question in the liberal leadership race and in the general election is who can stand up for Canada and who can fight for Canada? And that's like the pitch I'm making bill is I'm saying to Canadians, I can fight for you and I can win. Right. But as soon as the conservative here in America said he was going to invade Canada,

suddenly the conservatives in Canada didn't look too good. I mean, the guy you will be running against, Paul Pierre, how do we say his name, Pierre? Well, I call him maple syrup May. or many times. Okay, well, first, that doesn't help with my pronunciation. Sorry. And also, like, you know what? This is sad to me that everybody becomes more like America

in our worst kind of ways. I remember seeing an ad not that long ago when I was playing up in Canada. It was the campaign season. It was almost comically polite. Whoever Trudeau was running against. I mean, it was ridiculous. They certainly weren't calling each other names.

But I hear this guy, Pierre... Polyev. Poliev. I had it with the Putin. It's terrific. Well, I heard you talking about bilingualism. That's actually our thing. I know. You are bilingual.

Right. Yeah. But who is this guy? I never heard of him. I mean, I should maybe, but I try to follow a little bit of Canada. Who is he? And he sounds very Trumpy. I mean, this is sad to me that people in Canada are losing their polite.

Well, I think it's sad for us too, and he is pretty Trumpy, and I think he built a campaign on trying to imitate Trump. But now that Canadians see President Trump wanting to turn us into the 51st state, it's not going so well. And look, Canadians are very smart. And Canadians understand that right now what we need the most is someone who can stand up for our country. So Justin Trudeau, who's on his way out, used to be very popular. I mean, he still has his fans, three. And they may be asking, why did you turn on him? Because, you know, you were part of his government.

What was it? And also, what would you do differently? And if you watch the election here, don't ever say, nothing comes to mind. That's the bad answer to that one. What would you do differently? Well, you know, with the Prime Minister, I think every politician has their sell-by date, and that's part of what happened. But I think the other thing that happened is my party, we're actually called the Liberal Party, and I am an old-school liberal. And liberals in Canada win when we are focused on people and on what they need in their lives.

and we lose when people think that we're focused on virtue signaling and identity politics. So the same thing that sunk the party here in America when they went too far left. And that's the impression I got from Justin Trudeau. Why did he go and become one of those elitist type of scolds who looked like he was just overbearing, that sort of left-wing overbearingness? I saw recently, I think it was last week, Ottawa I see is trying to pass a law. limiting the amount of time you can idle your car. Now, I've been in Canada in the winter.

It's pretty fucking cold up. That's why we used to have snowbirds before we decided we didn't want to spend our money in the United States. And I don't think this, I mean, the reasoning is it's going to put a dent in global warming. I don't think it is that you can only idle your car for a minute, I think, remotely in three minutes if you're in it before you can get going. say warm it up. This just pisses people off. And it looks like, as in America, they still haven't gotten the memo

that this shit don't work. So you're against that kind of stuff, right? Yes, look, Bill. I have got the menu. I have received the memo, to be a polite Canadian. I have received the memo, sir. Yes. And, you know, politicians win,

when they listen to people sincerely. and hear what people are saying to them about their lives. And politicians lose when we think we are smarter than the people we work for. Our job is to lecture people. That's not how democracy works. People don't like bossy and they don't like snobs. Yeah. I'm always trying to tell the laugh.

Although people, right now in Canada, people do like strong. And people do want a leader who is strong. a leader who can unite the country and a leader who can figure out a smart way to talk to everyone here, all our American friends and neighbors, and say, let's not have a dumb tariff war. Let's get back to...

It's insane. And didn't, aren't you the... As finance minister, aren't you the one who negotiated the treaty in 2020 that we have now with, Yes, he said it was the best trade deal ever. Ever. No, he did.

No, I think it's called the USMCA, and I think this could be one of the only things that both Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi support. It's a really good deal, and the relationship between Canada is balanced. It is mutually beneficial. I think you guys are really lucky to have us as your neighbor. I agree.

We got my vote that I can't give you. Mr. Freeland, the next prime minister of Canada. All right, thank you very much. Let's meet our panel. Okay, he is the host of CNN's Farid Zakaria's GPS, a columnist for the Washington Post, and the best-selling author of Age

of Revolution. Fareid Zikari, are back with us. And he's the former mayor of Chicago and former U.S. ambassador of Japan under President Obama. Rahm Emanuel is right here. Okay, would you want to see little more of Trump and Zelensky and the...

Let's just see where America is now. I just want to see a little more of this, please. You're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now. You're gambling with World War III. You're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel. You have to be thankful. You don't have the cards.

Then you tell us, I don't want to ceasefire. I don't want to ceasefire. Great day, David, American. I mean, my first thought is he's having this big browbiting with a guy who speaks English as a second language. I just, it's just, I mean, so we're all agreed this is deplorable. You know, I've tried to not use the word deplorable as much as I can, but when it's deplorable, it's deplorable, it's deplorable. And anyone who likes it, I mean, that's a deplorable point of view. But here's my question to you guys.

I always said Trump is a coalition winner like every politician is, but a third of the country that loves this and will love anything he does. he got elected with that other part that's not the half that's liberal and democratic but thinks that he was in some way less crazy than they are. Does something like this change that? Does this move the needle on the people who are that part of the coalition he needs to stay popular?

You want to go? Look, I hope it does because I think what we're seeing it's funny and it's, but it's really tragic because, first of all, to see the President of the United States and the Vice President bully, berate, demean, you know, cajole somebody who, you know, who depends on, you know, the United States for its survival. But more than that, you know, over the last hundred years,

the United States, whether it's supported Britain at the right moment, whether it supported, you know, the Allies in World War I, one, it was always clear, morally, politically, whose side we were on. We were on the side of the victim of aggression. We were on the side of the democracies. We were against the dictators. We were against the aggressors. And to see this bizarre moral reversion, you know, I mean, it was absolutely clear in that, listening to Trump, he's much more comfortable and sympathetic with Vladimir Putin. And he doesn't like Zelensky. So A, to the core part of your question.

this will not work with the American people. First of all, the President's underwater, and it's only going to drive... And I want to pick up on what Farid said, look, for a long time, our foreign policy has been basically internationalist versus isolationist. That's kind of been the structure.

Now we have a foreign policy of either principles or predatory. And I don't think the American people who think of themselves are going to want to see themselves as we want those minerals for this price. we're going to take Greenland for this, we're going to take panel. That is not where the American people have a self-image,

and especially not the way it's being done and conducted this way. And second of all, there's a common thread here. There are three times I've seen Donald Trump, as I've never seen that before. And I've been in the Oval Office in and out for eight years. I've been in obviously other situations with congressional leaders, foreign leaders. And this moment today, where I've never seen the Oval Office. This looks like the Emanuel family on Thanksgiving.

Number two was when Nancy Pelosi in the cabinet room stood up and said, all roads with you lead to Putin in Russia. And then third in Helsinki, when he was standing there with Putin at a press conference, and he took Putin's side against the American national security apparatus and the Intelligence Committee. What is the common thread through all three of these very, very low, very bizarre moments? Donald Trump defending Putin. And that is the only thing.

And I think, and then I think this is, now beyond this, to I think a more serious and I think consequential when you look at just five weeks that feel like five years. The ride that steals the spotlight every time it hits the road, that's the Volkswagen TIG one. Its sleek exterior makes a first impression you can't ignore. Step inside to find available full leather seats and wood accents. Under the hood, the available 201 turbocharged. torch tors power engine gives it a fun to drive edge. The refined Tiguan, you deserve more style. Visit vw.ca to learn more.

SUVW, German-engineered for all. I spent a lot of time in the Far East during President Biden term with Japan. We worked very hard to keep South Korea from going nuclear, and they agreed to it. You now have an election where the new chancellor, Germany, saying, we have to think of our own nuclear production. protection. We spent 75 years on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons so there would not be many countries with nuclear weapons. We're about to enter the era of proliferation. Five years from now, the nuclear... You're saying because they don't think they can count on America. They can not count on the United States for their own protection. South Korea is not leaving their dependent,

their security to Donald Trump and the United States. Germany and Europe are not leaving their security to the United States and NATO. And you're looking at Ukraine. The only reason Ukraine because we convinced them in 1994 to give up the nuclear weapons. And I think, as to quote my grandfather, when Germany with a neo-Nazi party is running number two, gets nuclear weapons, the great political sage, my grandfather, Herman Smolovovic, O'IVA. That is not a good thing. You know that translation, O'Ivey, right? I'm not familiar with it.

I think that it's beyond even the things that Rahm is talking about. every country now, every ally of ours is asking themselves, how do we become less dependent on the United States? So we don't have this shakedown. I mean, you heard what Christopher was saying. The debate in Canada is now, we've made a big mistake being this economically dependent on the U.S., we've got to find ways to separate ourselves.

The debate in Europe, in Germany, is exactly that. The debate in Asia is that. I was talking to, I was on Australia last year, and those guys were telling me, look, we want to be close to you. But we are taking on a very hostile position to a China because of you. We don't, you know, they're our biggest trading partner.

What happens if you cut a deal with Putin, with Xi and leave us hanging? So in a weird way, the whole world is asking themselves if the United States can betray Ukraine, if it can turn on Canada, where do we stand? Okay. So let me describe one thing. Yes, sir.

weakness invites aggression. You were watching Ukraine, Europe, what's going on? China. That's an old Republican line. Yeah, well. And it's true. You're seeing it play out of the Pacific. China just put a whole military operation closest they've ever been to Sydney, Australia.

They just did it to Vietnam. Because they see the United States now, and they're saying to the whole region, can go with us or you can go with this guy. And the whole region's got to, they've got to make a self-interested calculation. and they're not going to be dependent on the United States, and this will become a more dangerous world. So what do we say to the people who are watching and saying, oh, well, you guys are saying the world's going to hell in a handcart?

So what do we do about it? Now, last week I opened the show by saying, you know, there's a pattern in American politics, and it's about overreaching. Whenever someone wins an election big time, and Trump kind of did, they overreach. And that seems to be what's going on. And I said, you know, maybe the best thing the Democrats

going to do is just be as lame as they are. and that strategy's working perfectly. No, well. And James Carville this week kind of one-uped it. He said, what the Democrats, I'm just asking, I'm not saying I necessarily agree with it. He said, they need to just play dead because this administration,

only five weeks old, is making itself so unpopular that the worst thing anybody else can do is just get in the way. They're digging a hole. Let them dig. Be, well, okay. Okay. That's James Carville.

That must be the applause for the whole part. That's James Carville. I'm just asking if you agree, or if not, what is the strategy? Well, one, I want to correct one piece of the premise. When you get 49%, which is a plurality, not a majority, it's not a mandate. No, it's not a mandate. So, one, they overinterpreted just like George Bush did in 2004. And he said, I got a mandate, and he went to privatize Social Security,

and he got smacked in 2006. They do not have a mandate. Who gives a fuck? He won the election. He won all the southern swing states. They are trying to believe something, and that's misinterpreting. Number one, number two, let me say, well, changes nothing.

James Carville, who is a dear friend, said two things in there that aren't the same. He said retreat, and he said rope a dope. And rope a dope, it's not a retreat. It was using your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. And rope a dope, in the sense of what allowing Donald Trump to do what he is doing, and I think the biggest fights beyond what we just saw in the Oval Office will be when he literally

tries to cut people's health care to pay for tax cuts for the rich people for Lottes and the rest of the people he's hanging with. And that is where you're going to see the biggest fight, and I think there is where you engage. I don't agree with the idea, now genetically I don't agree with the idea of retreating.

It's just not in my DNA. But Ropa Dope and retreating, which he used in that piece, is not the same strategy. And I would not retreat. But I think there's something, I love James Carwell, I think he's a super smart guy, but I think it's a somewhat old-fashioned view of how politics works. What Trump has understood better than really almost anybody is the attention economy. He knows how to dominate the narrative.

He knows how to be there all the time shaping it. He knows how to make you think that he's won when he's lost. So when you see things like this happen, Trump and his people are going to go out and say, this was a great victory. Zilinski here. We had to push back. You need to be controlling the narrative. And the Democrats, I think, too often fall into this view.

Well, it's obvious this was a humiliation. It was obvious that this was bad diplomacy. No, you have to shape that narrative. You know, look at Kamala Harris. She goes on one television show, 60 minutes, and does this 12-minute interview carefully choreographed. He goes on for three hours on Joe Rogan. He goes on for 25 hours on six other podcasts,

and he is relentlessly pounding the narrative. Democrats need to understand that's the new attention economy. If you're not shaping it, you are being shaped by it. Here's one. Donald talks like to tell you that he knows he already deal. He knows how to do a deal. Well, what do you say? In his first term, he did a deal with China.

He tried to do a deal with North Korea. And he also talked about the USMC deal there in the Afghan's deal. There's one constant in all of these. He put publicity ahead of principle. He is actually the worst negotiator. And we should be actively pointing out and saying, here's the other course we would take. You never leave that field for him.

I would not do that because he has to be confronted. Now, I would be more selective. I would not go, as I've said before. I wouldn't go sit there in my first protest be in front of USAID's office. I would pick a place that matters to the American people. I'd go to a grocery store and show all the open...

open shelves on eggs. The fact is, we have no eggs, and inflation is way up on eggs, and he's now fired everybody that will keep our eggs. And he said he was going to have this great strategy to end the Ukrainian war. You know, we couldn't hear what it was. And then when he got into office, what was the strategy? Give up. Just give up. He just

surrendered everything immediately. I've never seen anyone negotiations. Nobody negotiates. You haven't seen it because nobody negotiates like that. Right. It's crazy. I mean, he could have asked for a few things before he just capitulated. He said, I mean, Well, I don't want to cut.

So you wanted to say something. No, no, no, no. It's a rare moment in me giving the microphone away. So go on. You know, what's sad about this is you watch foreign leaders, and they've figured him out. So if you watch, you know, Justin Trudeau, he said you begin by praising him lavishly. You say, oh, you did everything on. Then you give him none of what he wanted.

You announced some bullshit concession. There was some stuff you had all. already done. And he beams. The King of Jordan had did it brilliantly. He said, you know, Trump asked him to take two million Palestinians from Gaza and he says, because of your wisdom and your leadership and your foresight, we're going to take 2,000 kids to treat them medically and send them back. And Trump beamed. It was like, I was. So in a strange way, I do feel, I do feel like Zelensky should have studied this a little bit more. He's an emotional guy. I've met him many times. He's very brave. He's been fighting a war. And he led his emotional.

get the best of him. The way to have gone in there is first you begin by saying, President Trump, you are a genius. You have completely transformed the landscape. I have with me the order of highest merit. Ukraine has never created a civilian honor this big for you. Have a big measure. And they say to him,

I look forward to welcoming you in Ukraine so that we can build the tallest Trump Tower in the world. Like, I got to... That would have saved you friends' ass. I'm trying to catch people up on a few other stories this week. I would just like the record of show that he swore twice. I have yet to do it. It's like, I'm having an hour-body experience.

You're doing fantastic. So Luigi Manjone is always in the news. Wow. This week, he was getting so much positive fan mail. He's the guy who shot the health care guy. Okay, the health care. See you. One applause.

He's getting so much fan mail that he had to say, please, I can't read it all. You're over... I'm crowded into myself with all the fan mail. And I did a thing about him about a month ago. I'm not a big fan. I don't think he really did anything great by shooting somebody in the back. But, okay, some people do. But I was trying to make the point that I think this is romanticized America,

because every time I try to find a movie anywhere on streaming, it's about a hitman. Oh, look, Black Dove, that looks interesting. Oh, it's a hitman. I mean, it's just, oh, good, Mark Wahlberg has a new one. What's that about? Oh, he's a hitman. Is every fucking person at a hitman? Everybody in America is a hitman.

I just made a list up at the top of my head. Just people love like franchises, Denzel and Liam Neeson and Keanu. And people, these are actors, I asked, who's played a hitman twice? Not even the same type of hitman, just Statham. Brad Pitt, Colin Farrell, Mark, everybody, there's even subgenres, old hit men. There's more than more. Men with mental problems.

Women, so it's inevitable that there would be a magazine that came out, and we have it. It's called Murder Officianado. And Luigi's on the cover. Would you like to see some of the articles on the end? Okay. For example, travel spotlight, book depositories in your area. Seven easy to prepare meals for lying and wait

Why does it have to be a hit man? How squeaky from broke up the assassin sausage party. Hitting on a hitman, when to take your shot. We don't kill people in a disco, real-life assassins on what John Wick gets wrong. Jokor's Wild, is Timothy Shalameh hot enough to play the Boston bomber? Help, it's prison business. day and I don't have a thing to conceal up my ass.

And one-on-one with Vladimir Putin. I blew up a fucker's plane. Top that, bitches. Okay, so let's put some specifics on what we're talking about on what's going to probably make this administration unpopular. The budget, they just are passing it now. Mike Johnson's got a tough job there.

He's got to find a lot of new savings and also new tax cuts at the same time. The spending, though, they passed the other night, cut $2 trillion, and the reporter said to Trump, can you guarantee that you're not going to touch Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security? And Trump, of course, got pissed. He said, I've said it so many times you shouldn't be asking me. Read my lips.

Remember George Bush? Read my lips. Now, he said, now we are going to be looking for fraud. I'm sure you're okay with that. I am okay with that, and there is fraud in there. Okay, well, all right. Yes. We all hate fraud. But here's the thing. Medicaid, you would have known this. I didn't. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is who oversees Medicaid. I don't know why that is, but we don't have time. Anyway, they've been instructed to find $880 billion over the next decade. It's in savings. It sounds like they know the amount of fraud they're going to find. before they're looking for the fraud.

You think it fixes in, huh? I'm just saying, I wonder when people's Medicaid gets cut. Is that when I call the China Shop moment? Oh, where the China? First of all, this also relates to Alam-Muss project. Yeah. If you go every year, they aggregate all the Inspector General's savings. In 2020, it was $93.3.1 billion.

They found some savings in Medicare that can be done, some in Medicaid that can be done. If you're very serious about that, you would do that. You would have a vote on it. Instantaneously, you would have the savings. Second is, there isn't that type of savings. And they're going to cut people's health care for a tax cut for the wealthy. And that should be the – first of all, has the benefit for being true. And second of all, it is exactly the type of debate we want to have going into the mid-term.

election because they're going to cut premium support for middle-class families to getting health care on the exchanges. They're going to cut Medicaid. They're going to cut Medicare, and it's going to directly impact the people's ability to afford health care. And remember, the leading cause for individual bankruptcies in the United States is health care costs. Everybody is one illness away from the poor house. And they are going to take, they are going to literally cut people's health care to pay for tax cuts. And the last thing that Alon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and everybody that was at that inaugural needs is another tax cut. That is not what they need.

So, you know, I agree with you about the fraud and the waste. I think, you know, if they can find it great, but it's important to understand where the money is, you know, the kind of Willie Sutton question. The American government, federal government, Ezra Klein, has this line, which is completely true. It's an insurance company with an army. Most of what the American government does is check writing.

Very efficient writing of checks. Social Security. Medicare, Medicaid, veterans benefits, interest on the debt. When you add that plus the Pentagon, that's 80% of the budget. So, you know, you can find, you can demonize foreigners and find USAID. USAID is 1% of the federal budget. Medicare, Social Security, that basically 20%. So, you know, what you really have to be talking about is cutting, which he said he won't do, right?

So here's the other solution, which gets to what Rahm was saying. I have a very simple idea. And this will get us $4.5 trillion over the next 10 years. Just don't extend the Trump tax cuts, which go mostly to rich people into corporations. That's $4.5 trillion. Elon Musk can go home and run his companies. We've now found 1,000 times as much as he's trying to find.

And guess what? That will take us back to the horrible years of the Obama tax regime. during which period, the American stock market doubled, and the U.S. grew faster than every Western economy in the world. Was it so bad? Can I say one, if you really is thinking in the system, and there is, let's just take the health care space, waste and fraud, et cetera, then you would start not where the government is.

You'd start with who gets the money. And who gets the money is going to be the hospitals, the insurance company, the providers on pharmaceuticals, products and health care products, that is where there's a tremendous amount of ways fraud and abuse where people are overcharging constantly. So now the question is, is the fraud in your health care or is it fraud in the people that manage your health care? And I guarantee you they're not going to go to that space because that means you're going

to have to take on really powerful interests. And I used to, I did that on the children's health insurance against the insurance companies for President Clinton, did it for President Obama. I used to be 6-2 and 250 pounds. I'm now only 5'8. But there's a real question. They're going to go, oh, it's waste for other abuse. Well, you're going to have, that's going to be in the hospitals

and how they charge for a room. That's going to be in the insurance companies and how are they charge and try to deny you health care. That's going to be in the pharmaceutical prices where they bump it up, et cetera. So the fact is, is it going to be against the interest or is it against your interest? And that's where this battle's going to be.

And I'm saying, suit up, let's go. I'm ready to have that fight. Okay. Let me switch topics because you guys are both real experts on international affairs and J.D. Vance while we were awfully. We made a speech in Munich. A lot of people were shocked by it. I thought half of it was pretty shocking because it was about this election that they just had in Germany, where there is a party on the ballot that is very Nazi friendly.

But the first part of the speech was about free speech. that I didn't think he was so wrong about, especially since I had just seen this 60 Minutes report. Did you see that the week before about how they handle free speech in Germany? Wow, this is not the only country where the pendulum doesn't land in the middle. Apparently Germany is so afraid to look like their Nazi past that they're literally knocking on people's doors and taking their phones and their computers.

If you just insult people online, they brought up this example of Pimel means, cock in German. You can't call people a dick. I'd be in jail ten times. So I agree with you on the, on the, on the, that part of Vance's speech, he's basically right. It's, it's important to remember, European countries have never had the First Amendment

type protections that we have. No. Europe has always had a more regulated speech. I mean, as a journalist, you know, I know, we, it's always easier to get sued in Britain because they, you know, again, we, you know, again, we. We have an amazing set of protections with the First Amendment, and the Germans have a particular history. You're right.

You know, for example, Holocaust denial, which is allowed in the U.S., anyone can say whatever they want. It's illegal in Germany because they're sensitive to the Nazi past, in much of Europe, mostly in Germany. But what I really thought was offensive about that speech was the premise of the speech was that this is the greatest danger facing Europe today, not Russian aggression, not Chinese. Or lack of speech in Russia.

I mean, here you have a continent which is dealing with the largest land war since World War II, the biggest aggression, you know, the tearing up of international norms. And he's saying, because you guys don't do speech exactly the way we do, that is your existential danger. I just think, again, J.D. Vance is so polemical. He's using it to play to an audience at home. It is no, you know, that is not the greatest danger facing Europe. If I could, first of all, the neo-Nazi party in Germany is so far to the right and so closely a Senate associated with the Nazis. Well, they are not specifically a neo-Nazi party. But, Bill, none of the other right-wing parties in Europe will associate with them.

I understand. And then to let being a party of what happened on January 6th, to lecture people on the operations of democracy and the integrity of democracy. But here. I'm sorry, hypocrisy, you just got a new face. But here's the question. What do you do when people like a party and elect it? Because they can't, he talked about it. They're going to be in the Budzostan.

Wait a second. I had heard this. I'd not heard the story. He cited this. He said Romania canceled an election recently. Apparently there was Russian interference. I think there's going to be foreign interference in every election from now on for the rest of our lives. And somebody from the European Union said, well, we might have to do that in Germany, too.

What do you do when the people get it wrong? because sometimes they do. I remember in Algeria in the 90s, they had an election, and the people got it wrong, and they elected, you know, the Islamists. And after the Muslim, the Arab Spring in 2011, Egypt voted, and they voted for the wrong people, the Muslim Brotherhood. You know, sometimes they do get it wrong. What do you do when the people do that?

When the people want the wrong party? Do you cancel elections? Because that doesn't seem like the right thing either. So, you know, many years ago, I coined this phrase, illiberal democracy, meaning when a majority of people vote for a party that then systematically gets rid of freedom of the press, gets rid of independent judiciary, you know, you do, and it's a danger. It's a really dark place because, and it's not just a theory. This is what Victor Orban does.

In fact, Victor Orban cites my illiberal democracy article and says, that is what we want to be. We don't like liberal democracy. We like illiberal democracy. So you're to blame. Erdogan and Turkey does this. His independent courts are much less independent. So some people would look at some of the things Trump is doing here and wonder whether that's the direction we're headed to.

You're right. The answer is not to annul the election. The election was annulled because there was fairly good evidence of massive Russian interference. And it is ironic, as Ron was saying. This is the vice president who said that he would have annulled the election of 2020. The worst possible messenger for this message.

He's the guy saying they have no sense of cognitive... No elections. Do it the way we did it with a good riot. Right. That's what you can do. They have no sense of cognitive dissimates. It's amazing. I'll be quick.

One, you have to use a dissident. First of all, they're going to be in the government. And they're going to be exposed. And you have to expose what they're trying to do. And the Germans just had an election, which is slightly different what the Romanians did. But I don't think the Vice President of the United States should be in there saying,

this is your crisis. When you have the Russian bear, which they all have history with, literally standing over there and starting a war on a sovereign nation that's in violation of the UN Charter. All right. Thank you guys. Those guys only got 20% of the bill.

All right. Time for new rules, everybody. Thank you, Paul. The captain of the USS Harry S. Truman, who crashed his aircraft carrier into a merchant ship. must do two things. One, accept your new nickname, Captain Crunt. And two, tell us how with the most sophisticated navigation systems in the world you rammed your boat into another boat on an ocean.

And no, this doesn't count as one of the five things you did this week. Newell, if you're planning your retirement and want financial advice, don't choose Schwab, Fidelity, or J.P. Morgan. Choose Ashley St. Clair. She's the lady who made the smartest investment decision of the year getting pregnant with Elon Musk's 13th trial. And yes, this does count as one of the five things you did this week. New World Oscar winners must stop saying they're proof that dreams come true.

Your dreams came true. For every one of you, there are hundreds of thousands of actors whose dreams don't come true, and I'm not saying those people should give up on their dreams. I'm just saying they should focus on. on the moment and bring me my dressing on the side. Neuro, now that the U.S. egg shortage has become so acute that people aren't just ordering their eggs online, but also live chickens. Someone must order a chicken and an egg and let us know which one came first.

Neural, if Mikey, oh shit. If Mikey Madison, the star of Enora, wins an Oscar this Sunday, the Academy has to create a new category. in the future called Best Actress Not Playing a Hooker. Man does Hollywood love hookers. 14 women have won an Oscar for playing one. Yeah, Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway, Kim Basinger, Miroservino, Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, Elizabeth Taylor, Donna Reed, Joe Van Fleet, Shirley Jones,

Leah Kodrova, Shelley Winters, Susan Hayward, and Helen Hayes, that whore. More prostitutes have gone home with Oscars than Charlie Sheen. and seven more hooker portrayers have been nominated. Yeah, Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Shoe, Audrey Hepburn, Julie Christie, Jody Foster, Madeline Kahn, and, yes, John Voight in Midnight County. It's true. That's 20 women and one guy.

Shame on you, Hollywood. I thought you cared about diversity. And finally, new rule to everyone. who's been stopping me lately and asking, Bill, if by some weird fluke Stephen A. Smith doesn't run for president? Who are we going to get?

Well, I'm going to tell you. But first a word from common sense. The Democratic Party's current approval rating is 21%, which is only slightly more popular than Kanye's swastika shirts. Maybe that's why, according to a new Gallup poll, 45% of

Democrats want the party to move to the center, which is up 11 points from four years ago. Now, whenever a political party finds a real star president, the other side always says, well, we have to find our Bill Clinton, our Reagan, our Obama. Well, the Democrats need to find their Trump, not the authoritarian part, but the part where a politician bonds with everyday Americans because he talks like them. And the good news, the good news, you know, news for Democrats is they have that guy. And his name is John Fetterman. After the election, instead of curling up in a ball, Fetterman went to Mar-a-Lago, where Trump assumed he was one of the guys from January 6th. And afterwards, Trump said, he's not liberal or conservative. He's

just a common-sense person, which is beautiful. And that's the kind of gay adjacent respect Trump usually reserves for Putin. Trump and Fetterman actually have a lot in common. They're both plain-spoken, anti-elitists who come from money, married exotic immigrant ladies, went to Ivy League schools, and aren't afraid to take on their own party. And when the wind catches Trump's hair just right, they're both six foot eight. Look, here's the thing. Voters aren't really savvy about the issues, but they do have made it clear what is important to them. Authenticity, balls, and charisma. Trump has that package, and so does Fetterman. He's only been a senator two years, and he's already more famous than most of his colleagues. Quick, I dare you to name this sad-looking lady from Washington State who's been in the Senate for 30 years.

You can't teach charisma or balls. Federman is that rare Democrat who's not afraid to put the woke nonsense peddlers in his own party in their place, saying things like wanting a secure border and realizing that it was out of control. That doesn't mean you're a xenophobic or racist. He's been unequivocally pro-Israel, as are most Americans, and when pro-Palestinian protesters showed up at his home, he went up on the roof and waved an Israeli flag. Federman says the four words that strike fear in the heart of every Republican who wants to hang on to power.

I am not woke. That's why Trump won, not because Americans were clamoring for tariffs on Margarita Mix. Going where the American people are on crime and immigration, gosh, it's so crazy, it just might work. See, that's how you get these things called votes. And once you do, you can take office. I know it's more fun to make memes of Trump sucking Elon's toes, but John Federman doesn't play that game.

He says, I don't give a fuck. I left all my fucks in my other pants, and I don't wear pants. You see, again, like Trump, Fetterman understands the value of having a distinct. thinkative look, a brand. Trump, with his yellow top and four-foot rayon red tie, mimics the colors that every fast food franchise,

every fast food franchise knows this, that for some reason it gets people excited. Who knows why it works, but it does. And I think Federman's look works for him. It's a look that says, I'm just like you. I've given up. John's the only person in America who goes to see,

for the clothes. When the fashion, when the fashion police see him, they say, we're going to need backup. And there's something else Fetterman and Trump have in common. Brain damage.

Okay, okay, all right, neurological issues. Trump has the whole malignant narcissism thing that makes it difficult for him to distinguish between reality and whoever's kissing his ass. and Federman has had a stroke

and been hospitalized for depression and needs a special speak-and-say device to communicate. He's legally a disabled person, which is actually great news for the Democratic ticket because, okay, look, I don't just have the top of the next Democratic ticket. I'm also going to throw in the best bottom the Democrats have Pete Buttigieg.

Yeah. Remember Mayor Pete? He used to be everyone's favorite. boy genius from Indiana? Well, he's all grown up now. And he, too, seems to be trying to send a message that he wants to join the reality wing of the Democratic Party.

A month ago, he stopped posting his pronouns. And Pete now says that liberals would do better, quote, if we were more serious about the actual values and not caught up in vocabularies and trying to cater to everybody only in terms of their particular slice of combinations of identities.

Exactly. Federman's problem is he doesn't check any box for gender or race, which could hurt him in getting the nomination. John, are you sure you don't have any Latino blood? How does Juan Federman sound? So let me suggest this. Since Federman checks the disabled box

and Pete is gay, can we just, for the sake of a... next election say that on the intersectionality conversion chart, gay plus disabled equals one person of color. Because I think it's a great ticket, especially since Pete has lately been finding the strength to say things like Democrats should stop, quote, making people sit through a training that looks like something out of Portlandia. Out of Portlandia.

Where did he get that line? the entire Democratic Party has become a Portlandia sketch. I'm not mad. Please steal all my jokes. I'm going to actually get somebody elected. All right. That's our show. I want to thank Marie Zakaria, Ram Emanuel, and Krista Freeland. Now go watch overtime on YouTube. Thank you, folks. You agree. 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. Lazzang sur-gilled,

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