Real Time with Bill Maher - Ep. #721: Sen. Adam Schiff, Don Lemon, Annabelle Gurwitch

Episode Date: March 7, 2026

Bill’s guests are Sen. Adam Schiff, Don Lemon, Annabelle Gurwitch (Originally aired 3/6/26 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. Start the clock. I get to. I appreciate it. Yeah, I know. I missed you too. Yeah, we were off last week. One week. Well, one week. I have more to catch you up on. I could posit. Okay, well, the State of the Union happened, the address.

I tell him not to do it. He did it anyway. But in the State of the Union address, Trump was bragging that we were. he was ending wars, and the gas prices are going down, the stock market is through the roof, jobs are doing great. Now, we're in a war. Gas prices have spiked. The stock market is going down,

and we've lost a lot of jobs. It's like his even more evil twin replaced his usual evil twin. I don't... And this is... Republicans are very nervous about this because the big issue is affordability. right in America right now?

Republicans are sweating like Britney Spears at a traffic stop. No, it's not a good look. We lost losing jobs. We lost 92,000 jobs in February. Of course, Trump blames Biden and the Democrats blame Trump and Nick Fuentes blames Black History Month.

Some terrible people in America. America, I'll tell you. But that's the bad news. We lost 92,000 jobs. The good news, one of them was Christy Knobs. That's right. Christy Knoem. At Homeland Security, she's finally gone.

And Trump did it. Oh, boy, he's cold. He did it by a tweet while she was making a speech. She never saw it coming. Now she knows how her dog feels. You know, Trump used to break he could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue, right? Remember all that? I guess he didn't like the fact that there were two people on the administration who could

shoot people in the street and get away with that, huh? But, no, apparently, with Christy Nome, the distractions just became too much. She testified last week before the Judiciary Committee, I think, and even the Republicans are going after her. Apparently, it's such an open secret in Washington that she's been having an affair. I mean, her husband was sitting right behind her. But it's such an open secret that she's been having an affair with Trump's longtime henchman, Corey Lewandowski, that they were asking it.

This doesn't usually happen when they ask her directly. Are you fucking this guy? She said, I am shocked that we're peddling tabloid garbage in this committee. True. Also, not exactly a no. So we have a new head of Homeland Security. you'll be excited to hear about this. Mark Wayne Mullen.

Yes, Mark Wayne Mullen. I say Mark Wayne Mullen's going to do it. He's a senator from Oklahoma, total election denier, former MMA fighter, so you know, a bright guy. But he has pledged to continue all of the responsibilities

that Christine Home was doing. I mean, not fucking Cory Willundowski, but the other ones. Or the other ones. So, Also, this week, war. Did you hear about that thing? We bombed Iran and it's going on.

Now, have you expected me to say, I hate it? I don't. Sorry, when he puts boots on the ground? Yeah, they don't hate it. Now, I know too many happy Iranian-American. Sorry. And you cannot name one horrible thing that has happened in the Middle East

in the last 50 years and not connected to this fascist theocracy. They're like six degrees of they don't eat bacon. So I'm not so... And it's popular. I mean, Iranians all over the world are doing the Trump dance. Have you seen that? The whole world is jerking off two guys at once now.

It's amazing, yeah. But, you know, when it comes to the war, it comes to anything in this country. Everybody assesses everything by way of, did my team do it, then I love it. If their team did, I hate it. I mean, Kamala Harris made a statement. She said, this is a war the American people don't want.

And who knows more about what the American people don't want. But she's right. Like six out of ten American people don't want this war. Okay, it doesn't mean they're right. We'll see. What's bizarre is, Don, I'm one of the few people on your enemy's list. Who is backing you on this sort of? We'll see.

And yet today, today, this is today, March 6th. At 8.50 a.m., he tweets about the war. There will be no deal until we have unconditional surrender, important statements we put out. An hour later, eight posts about me. I'm not joking. And what happened with the Valentine's Day massacre? And his tweet about that, which I'll be talking about at the end of the show.

Okay, this is today. And then 15 minutes later, he did again, back to the war. We are moving thousands of people out of the Middle East to safer places. an important message to get out, then back to me. The people at Mediate wrote a headline that said, here's why Trump is raging at Bill Maher in the middle of an actual war. Why? Tell me. This is getting weird.

I'm just telling you, thank God I didn't spend the night. All right. But as far as the war goes, as he would say, we'll see what happens. There's so many unanswered questions, of course, right now about it. One thing we do know for sure, mullers, mullahs, are fucking morons. Some people on the fence about that? Okay, here's my evidence.

They've known for months. We have the entire military surrounding their country. Everything is aimed at them. We know we're ready to take them out. They have their big meeting. They have everybody who's... important in the country, meet in one place. His office. I mean,

you've heard of a Zoom meeting? This was a boom meeting. And then, and they did it again. They had another meeting of who was left. They call, I swear to God, this is not a joke, the assembly of experts. Otherwise known as the leave of

extraordinary idiots. And they get blown. up again. I mean, we've heard the term all hat, no cattle. These are all beard no brains. I'm telling you. But they're trying to find a new leader. They think Camini's son

is going to be taking over now. He's there. Boy, did he pick the wrong week to be a nepo baby. All right, we've got a great show. We have Senator Adam Schiff and Don Lemon. But first up, she's an actress, activist, a best-selling author, his newest memoir. The end of my life is killing me.

The Unexpected Jores of a Cancer Slacker out March 17, available for pre-order now. Annabel Gerwitch, Annabelle. Hello. How old you, darling? Great to see you. Thank you. All right.

It's great to see you. Yeah, great to see you. All right, let's give the audience the trigger warning now. Right at the beginning, we're going to be talking about cancer. Uh-huh. You know, just so you know, because you have it. I do. And that's what the book is about.

But the interesting, well, many interesting things, but you look great. You're leading a very full life. Thank you. Even though you've had it for six years. Five years. And just I want to say, when you see me, what you are looking at is pharmaceuticals, caffeine, and personal lubricants.

This is what is powering my health. Very much like ditty. Not at all. But explain this, how you can have cancer. I mean, when my father got lung cancer, you know, it was a very different situation back in the 90s. It's very different. It's just a pill you take it.

It's amazing that you can, I mean, you were with me on the Hawaii trip like five years ago, right? And you can look this great, you feel great, a lot of the time, I'm assuming. Yeah, I do. You lead a normal life. What's the catch? Well, there's a catch, and the catch is that this is a new age of precision medicine, and I'm taking a drug that turns off one gene in my body. And so I'm the product of this amazing investment in science.

And what's the catch is, is that we have to keep investing in science. The Trump administration... Yeah. You know, they interrupted science funding last year. Lung cancer research was zeroed out. Zero. And I can't afford one year of lost research. And the thing about it, I take this, one pill a day.

Now, it creates a certain kind of existential dread because eventually it will stop working, and I'll have to move to a treatment that has more toxicities. but it's also a bitter pill because not everyone gets the benefit of this drug. You know, I thought that the differences in health insurance and not having universal health care was about like choosing which doctor you get to go to, but it's not. It's not just about cost. It's about access.

There are 28 states in the United States where you don't get the testing that tells you could get on the drug that I'm on, and that means survival different. state by state. You have different survival rates for the same disease I'm on. And that makes me feel, you know, I don't feel good about taking this pill when everyone can't get it. You think that the Democrats could make that more of a winning issue, wouldn't you? You would think, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm from Alabama originally. Yeah, I know you are. And I feel, thank you, Alabama in the House. Right? So I feel terrible that there's a lower survival rate in my home state just because, you know, I had dream. of working in Hollywood. I end up here and I can survive and they can't. That doesn't make sense to me. Well, I mean, of all the books I've read on this subject, because I am very interested in health,

yours is the funniest. I mean, you somehow made this issue funny, which is not an easy thing to do. Well, you know, I thought I was going to write, Bill, a book about dying. But because my life was saved by these drugs, it's actually a book about living, and it's a book about ordinary joys in extraordinary times and how to survive that. And I had no idea. Well, I've cultivated an appreciation of ordinary joys. This is the strategy of how I've remained buoyant

because at first I tried to carpe every DM. That did not work. This is how I ended up selling merch on a low-rent band tour in Europe for a heavy metal band. Right. You had a new love. I remember us talking. You said, I'm fucking like crazy with the cancer,

which was great. And you went to Europe with a band. So apparently cancer makes you Gen Z. Listen, it's never too late to write your sex, drugs, and rock and roll memoir. No, I guess not. 61 living the almost famous dream, you know? And just by the way, I know it's kind of a trope about like,

oh, man and women get different treatment in the medical establishment, but, you know, this drug I'm on does make your skin dryer, right? Hence the need for personal lubricant. Oh, I see. Which is not covered by my insurance, right? But if it was a man's problem,

you know it would be uncovered. Okay. So, and you got this during the pandemic. I did. Which is amazing. And you were going through a divorce. I did. I mean, you just talk about a double whammy.

But the really important... Well, that's a triple whammy. Yeah, it's a triple whammy. It's actually, okay, is it a quadruple whammy? Because the really big thing, Bill, is that, you know, we have a cognitive dissonance between how we look and how we feel and our actual state of our health, not to make people, paranoid, but we don't always know we have underlying conditions. I was feeling great, I looked great, and look, you can't out crazy me. Just like Robert Kennedy Jr., I sorted cocaine off of dirty toilet seats in the 1990s. I'm not too, I'm not too, I worked out in saunas. I was an actress.

I ate keto. I didn't even eat for 30 years, right? But that doesn't mean you're going to be healthy. And so I didn't even know I had this underlying condition, which can be really dangerous. So we have to remember that how we look and feel doesn't mean we shouldn't get regular checkups. Also, I'm a big believer in the mind-body connection. Oh, I think that's total crap. Really? You think there's no mind-body connection? I do.

I really do. You do know that they do studies with placebos. And people, you know what a placebo is, of course. Of course. I mean, before, like, 200 years ago, all they had was placebos. They would do crazily bad, stupid things. Doctors would to people, and they would get better because they thought they were getting better. I'm not saying that's a cure, and if I ever get something.

We love each other, because we disagree on this. You know, and I know what you're saying, and I don't want to underplay the fact that, you know, to have, and this is what my book is about, is about maintaining engagement in life, and about being curious and forward-thinking. because this is what I try to do now. You don't think this approach that we're talking about going with the band? No, I don't. You don't think that helped you survive? No, I don't.

It's just all the drugs. I think it's all the drugs because I've gotten very involved in the support community of lung cancer. And too many people who've had a much better attitude than me have died. And you don't think it has any of do with why you got it in the first place? Oh, absolutely not, because we know now that science has a much better. proven that the number two cause, because I wasn't a smoker, which is still the number of one class. Right, well, there you go. That's what I'm saying.

Maybe it was the divorce. Maybe it was the marriage. No, definitely not. What we know... I don't know about that. No, but what we know, and it's become an epidemic level for young women to be diagnosed with lung cancer particulate matter

in the air. And this is what's pollution and also climate change because this particulate matter... And wildfires. Yes, it comes from the wildfires. The dangerous particulate matter in the air. So annoying, California.

Well, this is part of what's so incredibly bankrupt about the Trump administration. If they really cared, if Maha cared about our health, they wouldn't take away environmental regulations against pollution. Yeah, but, okay, but excuse me. One reason we had the wildfires, I know everything is their fault.

You know what? This is a democratic state. ever little to do with it. They protected something, I think it was called the milk vetch. I'm not sure, don't quote me on that. It was some plant or something that caught fire. And we lost pretty much all the environmental gains we got for the last full part of the century, since the beginning of the century, because of these wildfires.

Because they were way worse than anything else we had before, and that is what's in the air now. Well, that may be one case, but, I mean, we're talking about. talking about the global issue. Oh, I understand. They don't believe in climate change, and that's horrible. And believe me, I'm one reason why he's yelling at me all the time. Yeah.

Yes. He's got a lot of time for that. All right. Well, I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're well. And the book is hysterical and people should read it. Thank you, Annabel Gerwitz, my oldest, bestest friend. All right.

All right, let's meet our panel. How you doing? Hello, Bill Ma. All right. He is a Democratic senator from California. Adam Schiff is with us. A very popular Democratic senator from California. And he's an award-winning journalist and founder of Lemon Media Network,

who now hosted a Don Lemon Show podcast on Lemon. Oh, boys. Okay. So all week long I've been hearing, we're at war. Now, I'd like to first say, we are not at war. We were all of us. We do the same thing we always did. The American families.

and the military people, they're at war. That's who goes to war in this country. Everybody else stays home and watches. Okay, just wanted to put that out there. I just want to reiterate what I said in the monologue. I'm cautiously optimistic unless he puts boots on the ground. Then he's going to lose me. We'll see for now.

I just don't get what liberals don't get about liberation. I see so much happiness. I see it in Venezuela. I see it here in Iran. Could we skip the part where we talk about, oh, they had so many different reasons for going to war, regime change, and we got to get rid of the nukes, and they were supporters of terrorism?

It's all of it. How about this? This was a fascist theocracy, and nothing in the Middle East was ever going to get better while they were still there fucking everything up. But I don't think that... Okay, but I don't think we can skip that part. That part is very important.

I think that the American people deserve transparency, especially if you are sending boots on the ground, because that means that lives are in jeopardy. Families will be concerned. Mothers will, you know, get the call, parents, that your son or daughter is not coming back, or they'll knock on your door. So I think we can't skip that part.

And this administration lies so much that I think we're entitled to the truth. For once, no one is saying, I don't believe anyone is saying that... But can't it just be all those things? Well, it can and it cannot be. But I don't think that anyone is saying that Hummany or any Venezuela that those folks should not be knocked out. But there's a way of doing things.

And Donald Trump has completely, sorry about this, I think, neutered the legislative branch, and I think the legislative branch needs to gain, get their power back. Well, I would agree with that. Certainly, I certainly agree with that. And it's been amusing to watch the Republicans tie themselves in knots to try to say, first, that this is a war, and then it's not a war, and it's a war they declared on us somehow. The minute that they acknowledge this as war is the minute they have to acknowledge they haven't done their constitutional duty

because if it's a war we should have had a vote to authorize it it's also the moment they acknowledge that Trump betrayed his promise not to get us into new wars but to your point Bill in the beginning yeah there are celebrations

when Saddam fell there were celebrations 20 years later not so many celebrations 20 years later Iraq is actually in a pretty good place people don't talk about that Iraq is a much better country than it was I'm not saying it was the right thing

to do. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But that kind of goes unnoticed that Iraq is not a failed state anymore. They actually have elections. They have opposition parties. They have a media. Don't you think they got better after we left? Because when we were there, it certainly was not. Right, but it would still be torture rooms in Saddam Hussein and his kids would be in charge right now. There would be thousands of American troops who would be still alive. But for that war. And that's too heavy a price to pay. And I say that as someone who, and this is, I think, was a terrible mistake. We voted for that. I hope I've learned from that. I certainly would not vote to go to World War with Iran because there are costs that you don't see in the front end.

And this administration has no plan for how to get out of this war, no plan. I really articulate justification for it. I hope that it ends, as the president sometimes says, in days or weeks. I hope they're smart enough not to make this go on forever. But as we've seen, once you unleash a war, there are a lot of unforeseen consequences. Right now, Russia reportedly providing intelligence to Iran about how to more successfully target American forces. Whether we anticipated that, I don't know. What's happening with our allies?

Hard to see how that... Well, allies. Russia now has lost Syria. They've lost Venezuela. They're going to lose Cuba, and they've lost Iran. So he's lost four allies. Yeah. Yeah.

That doesn't matter? What you said about Iraq is I think that's why we need transparency. That's why you can't skip it. Remember, where are the weapons? We've never found the weapons of mass destruction. And how many people lost their lives because we were going over there to look and get the weapons of mass destruction. So I think people need a rationalization and a real one for the world. That was more of a blatant lie.

This is more of a, we just don't like them. They're bad people. And they are bad people. So this statement from the administration, the president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest. That's too vague for you?

Totally vague. Okay, because that's from Obama, about Libya. Well, Obama made the argument initially that he could go into Syria without an authorization. I and many others pushed back on that argument. Ultimately, he did not go forward with going after Assad, even though Assad was gassing his own people, because he thought he might lose the vote in Congress.

But I respect the fact that that was important to him, and the fact that he did not have the support of Congress meant that we weren't going to go forward. We are unquestionably at war now. The founders made an extraordinary decision at the time, which was not to give that power to the president, but to give it to the Congress, because they were, I think, as Hamilton said, that a president would grow too fond of making war. after Venezuela, after the earlier Iran conflict, after bombing Nigeria and Iraq and Syria, he's grown too fond of this. And Congress, Donizier, saying, needs to step up, assert its role, or it's going to be gone for good. And then any time of president, for any reason, anywhere in the world, for any length of time, we'll feel free to make war.

And that would be hugely dangerous for the country. The first article of the Constitution, everything goes through Congress. Everything should go through Congress. And if that is not happening, it should. And, you know, Donald Trump is not a king. He thinks that he's a king, and he's being allowed to get away with all of these things. He's not a monarch. But he gets away with it.

But the last time we declared war was 1942. So this has been happening for a long time. I mean, that's true. 1982, you're talking about the War Powers Act and trying to take that away. I mean, eight times Congress has filed suit various presidents, Reagan and El Salvador, Nicaragua, Renata, Reagan into the Persian Gulf, that's the Iran-Iraq War, George W. Bush, the first Bush in Kuwait,

his son, of course, in Iraq, Clinton in Kosovo, Obama, and Libya. I mean, this horse is out of the barn. Well, you know, to Bush's credit, he did seek a congressional authorization to use force in Afghanistan, in Iraq. But I will agree with the president on this. I think he's right to call for the unconditional surrender of Bill Barr.

I think I'm totally the tweet I was expecting to see after you heard that. We're going to hear a lot about it at the end of the show. A lot of the things that you mentioned, they were based on some sort of

imminent threat. There is no imminent threat. There's no intelligence, as I understand, from anyone who's on the Intelligence Committee, that there was an imminent threat that Iran was going to attack Israel. And all the intelligence shows that Iran was years away from... They've been attacking them for 20 years.

They've true proxies. But that doesn't mean... If you listen to the administration, they were doing it because Israel was going to strike Iran, and they wanted to make sure that that didn't happen. Okay. It just seemed... Admit this much. There is a different approach here.

I mean, I was surprised when he said we might put boots on the ground, because I thought that was his red line and he would never do that. We'll see. But as opposed to what we have done before, which is we invaded a place and then took it over, Afghanistan, Iraq, we can make this. better. They're going to learn to love us. That's the pottery burn rule. You bought it,

you broke it, you broke it, you bought it. His is more like, we broke it, you fix it. You know, he's throwing it back on them. I mean, this would, no, Venezuela is not Iran, but Iran is not an unsophisticated population. We'll see, maybe they're the same, but it seems like this is

a very different approach, whereas you kill the leader, then you bring up somebody else who's not the opposition, who's part of that administration, and you say, look, we'll kill you if you don't start behaving. Because I hear something about leaders I've learned. They're not really ideological. They mostly just want to hang on to the job.

I remember in Iraq, remember debathification? And everybody said, especially all the people on the left, that was a terrible thing to do. We got rid of Saddam Hussein, and then all the people were in his bath party. We got rid of, and of course they were resentful, and then the war started. Okay, well, this is what we're not doing. This is the opposite of debathification. We got rid of the main guy, but we're not getting rid of the apparatus under them.

We're just saying, act more like a normal, civilized country, and we won't fucking kill you, too. Yeah, but you don't know who's coming. You don't know who's coming after coming in. Pete Hetzel said we're not in the business of regime change, but as you said, if we kill the leader, that's regime changing. The other big factor here is,

We've already lost six American service members. That's a huge price to pay. But we're also losing the opportunity to address the need to improve the quality of life for the American people. This is what Trump campaigned on. He said, I'm not going to go to war. I'm going to beat the peace president. I'm going to get my FIFA Peace Prize. But instead, we're going to war, and people can't afford their groceries,

and they can't afford now the fuel price that the pump has gone way up. They can't afford the cost of living. And instead of focusing on that, we're spending probably a billion dollars a day in Iran. And with every bomb that we drop, it's another investment we couldn't make at home. And I just don't think that's where the country is. The price is already too high as far as I'm concerned with the loss of our service members. If there had been an imminent threat, I'm all with you. And Bill, you're right.

I'm glad to see this regime gone. That's an unmitigated positive. I don't know, though, at the end of the day, if we get, you know, the Ayatollah's son or some other cleric, whether... I'm glad you brought it out because we got a hold of the job application for it. No, we did. They are looking for a new Ayatollah. Would you like to hear what's on the... Okay, this is...

All right. These are the questions on the job application for the next Ayatollah. Finish this sentence. The most satanic thing about Donald Trump is... A, supporting Israel, B, dancing. Would you say you hate women enough to host a podcast sponsored by protein power? What words best complete this sentence?

Death, A, by chocolate. B, cab for cutie. C, to America. Where do you see yourself in ten wars? Jihad me at halal. innocent word play or instant death sentence. In order to reach Gen Z, are you okay with the name Ayatollah 6'7? Um, where do you keep your wife?

Have you ever accidentally smiled, if so much sex, please explain? And, uh, which sex in the city character are you? That's the other... I don't know how that got in there, but... All right. Let's turn to domestic affairs. Don, I see you're in the news quite a bit lately.

Am I? Oh, I was at the Clive Davis Grammy Party when Clive introduced you, and you got the biggest ovation in the room. Christy Nome fired this week. Do you feel vindicated? Do you feel like doing the Trump dance now? Do you want to be jerking off two guys at once?

Not until Pam Bondi is. And I'll do that. Double DJ. Lazzangue surgelley, Puccence between 15 minutes. We'd say that's the Ojoe,

ready to play a joe. Vive the casino in line that proposes the more recent machine-asoo and the game of casino in direct. Profite of 50

tours on Big Bass Bonanza without without any without any payments instantane. Hey, I

Gagne! Woo-hoo! Sonture the pleasure Oh, Joe 18 years 1,000 10% 20%

20%% 20% $1% 10% pay you're to face responsibility, the conditions apply.

But Pam Bondi, she this week announced federal charges against 30 more people accused of civil rights

violations there in the Minnesota Church room so explains it the pastor

there was we think part of ICE that's why the protest

was going on there well according to the protest that one of the pastors was, I think, a regional director for ICE in that region. Pastors do that?

Pastors are also regional directors of ICE. There's things going on in this country. I'm just, I try to keep up with the news, and I just... And they said, you stood in close proximity to the pastor in attempt to oppress and intimidate him. That's some powerful bullshit there, isn't it, John? I mean... I thought you see you can see things about it. I mean, so where are you now?

I know they arrested you out here, right? And then what happened? You went to jail for a minute? I went to the federal courthouse, and I was in, you know, in an isolation room or a room by myself. Really? Yeah, yeah, I had to spend the night in jail. Like Steve McQueen in.

Yeah. I spent the night to throw the ball against the wall. I spent the night in a holding room at the federal courthouse. I had to do it once. It wasn't that bad. You did? Yeah, for a deal. 92, I got pinched for, I was this much over the limit

had a couple of drinks, drove home, I was wearing leopard print shoes. I'm sure that's why the, I'm sure that's why the cop was like, this asshole has got to go to jail. But you weren't sniffing cocaine off of a dirty toilet. I was, I was not. But it was the Beverly Hills jail. It was, yeah, it was. Oh, well, you were in a fancy jail.

It was a nightmare. Jail is jail. Are you kidding? When I ordered room service in the morning, I said, Raisin toast, no raisins in the toast. I had avocado toasts. All right.

So there was a election down in Texas, big stuff, this here in the Democratic Party. Adam, we've got to get you on this idea. This is James Tellerico. He was on the show a couple of weeks ago. Very impressive guy. Super talent. Okay, he beat Jasmine Crockett,

who, you know, until this moment, I kept hearing rising star in the Democratic. Party. Very charismatic. Fierry, yes, but very bright. Okay. People across the political This is Tala Rico talking. This is, I think this is just laying out the two wings of the party. There's the fuck Trump wing. You know, your old friend Katie Porter holds up signs, actually. Let's say, there if. Yeah, that's, okay. That's one way to do a campaign. James says people across the spectrum are hungry for a new kind of politics. Not a politics of fear, of hate, of division, but a politics of love,

a love that can heal was broken in America. The love part, James, that's a little too far for me. I love to say fuck Trump. You can do both. Okay, but I get your point. I think Tolerico is just a tremendous talent. And Jasmine is too. And Texans had a choice, Texas Democrats,

It's between two up-and-coming rising stars. Tala RICO is that unique talent that I think is deeply religious, deeply progressive, really resonating with people in Texas and outside of Texas. Texas could very well be in play, and I say that with hesitation, because we've put our hopes there before, but I think if anyone at this moment can make a viable campaign and turn Texas blue in the Senate, It's someone like Talarico.

I think his message is perfectly suited. It's also a perfect message for a Democrat in Texas, which may not be the exact same message for a Democrat in California. And I'm hugely excited about his campaign. This is great news. I think this could actually be the year. I think it could be the year. I think they had two, as he said, two great choices and both, you know,

different approaches. But I think that this could be the year, especially considering how the Republicans in the race are basically killing each other at this point and will during this entire process until November. But you seem to be avoiding the question, or maybe you do think you can have it both ways. I don't know if you can have it both ways.

I think these are the two wings. One wing is the cut them off. You know, don't have dinner with him. Worst thing you could ever do. If your family voted for him, don't... Wait a minute. He's tweeting at you for having dinner with him, and he hates you.

What are you talking about? He hates me because I never stopped criticizing him, and I never promised I would. Yeah. I think the reality is you have to find a way to do both stand up to Trump and also deliver for people. Stand up, but, I mean, don't you think after 10 years it's just a little, I mean, it's a bit of an eye roll. When people see that, they just think, that's all you got. That's all you Democrats have is fuck Trump.

And we're looking for something different. It seems like Tala Rico is making this case. And I think the fact that he won in Texas, I think it says a lot. Well, I think it says a lot, too, but at the same time, when Americans are getting killed in the streets in Minneapolis, it's not like you can ignore it and say, I'm going to have a positive love message. No, I'm not down with the love for it. We don't have to love. But you can do both, and indeed, I think all of us are a different mixture of both a focus on, okay, this is our positive agenda. This is what we have to accomplish.

We have to get shit done in California. This was really my theme in my Senate campaign. We have to get shit done. We have to be able to move forward. We have to be able to build things. We have to build a lot more housing. You have to have a positive message. It can't be just about fighting Trump.

But as they say, your opposition has a vote too. And when your opposition is taking the country to war without your approval in Congress, when the opposition is killing people in the streets, you've got to stand up to that too. I think Democrats have to be careful of this sort of kumbaya message. Because ultimately,

Democrats are going to elect the Democrat and you want to energize the part of your party that's really for you like Donald Trump energized the MAGA the staunch MAGA you're not going to do that by Kumbaya to the Republic and we should have learned by now this is and normal times I mean that is the argument I mean Katie Porter I think is the one who said

I don't need Trump votes that's this is where the rubber meets the road do you go that what you're saying is fuck the votes of the people who we are deplorable we don't we don't we don't care about you at all. We're just going to go after a room. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that you have to be careful because we are not in normal times where Donald Trump is not going to, you know, sit with a Democrat or anyone,

for that matter. It's all about Donald Trump. He's no ideology. It's all about Donald Trump, but just let me finish. And so they've got to be careful with that because that is not what Democrats want right now. They want a fighter. So I like James Talariko, but I think he should be very careful about this sort of kumbaya have to win over. Republicans. Jasmine Crockett did very well just with black voters in Texas. Seven out of ten Trump voters are not committed. They're committed to him. That's a key stat there.

Seven out of ten, to me, sounds somewhat getable, especially in the atmosphere we're in now with a bad economy, brewing. And if they're not with him, they don't like him probably more than the Democrats don't like him. So why do you need to appeal? They already don't like him. This is, I think, exactly the point, Bill. Wow. And I agree with you. To get them.

to get them voting for you? It's one thing to oppose Trump. It's another to write off everyone who ever supported him. That's a terrible mistake. I sought out a seat on the Agriculture Committee because it would help me serve large parts of Red California.

People forget there are probably 8 million people in California who are voting for Donald Trump or supporting Donald Trump. They're entitled to representation, and if you don't make the case to them, if you don't speak to them with respect, if you don't appeal to them, if you don't solicit their opinion on things and show you're open to working with them,

then why should they support you? So it's my favorite part of the job, frankly, is talking to folks in these parts of the state that don't expect me to go there. I had a meeting with a group of farmers in Butte County, red as red can be. And I knew the meeting was going well at the end when one of the farmers says, I don't know why the president calls you watermelon head. You've got a perfectly normal-sized head. And that's what I knew I was making progress.

But yeah, for a reporter or anyone else to write off a large part of people, or even say, I don't need Republican votes. Whether you need them or not, you should want them. And you should court them and cultivate them. And so that's, I think, a terrible... What did you think of the trap that Trump laid in the State of the Union address where he... Just show the tape there because I think it's self-explanatory what he did. If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support.

The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not a legal alien. And the Democrats didn't stand. I mean, obviously it's a deliberate trap because, you know, they always played these games of Simon says there at the State of the Union. Well, I think you and I agree on this is all performative. I know, but it's going to look bad in campaign ads. I don't think anyone's going to remember that come campaign. Well, they will if they put it in the ad. Well, that juxtaposed to pulling people out of their cars, dragging them across the snow.

Put that in the edge. That will drown that. That will drown that message out for one moment. No one never, the opposing party never stands up. It's just, it's just. But I had, I didn't go to the state of the union. They're trying to arrest this. guy, they're trying to indict to my colleagues, they're trying to go after me. I don't think

you treat this moment as business as usual. But it was a hard decision. I've gone to every state of the union for 25 years out of respect for the office, but now we have a guy in the office who doesn't respect the office. And this is a perfect illustration of that. Had I been there, what would I've done? You'd have to wake me up first. And then, I don't know. I probably He's very bored. I probably would have gone along with the Democratic strategy, which is, unless it's a war hero in the gallery or the U.S. hockey team, you stay in your seat, you're respectful, you're silent,

you're not holding up paddles, you're not being disruptive, but you're also not giving the appearance that somehow this is okay, this presidency is okay. He's trying to jail the opposition. He's trying to put members of the press in jail. He's soliciting bribes from press organizations. He's going after law firms. He's going after universities.

He's having his ICE. Agents killed people in the streets. We just can't act like this is somehow okay. And I don't know, for me, sitting there, validating what he's doing, acting like there's nothing going on was too much. This year was too much. Okay. And what he said.

Thank you. I want to join my... Thank you, gentlemen. Time for new rules. New rule, Pete Hegseth, has to come up with a name for one of our military actions that doesn't sound like a nickname for his penis. So far, we've had Operation Southern Spear, Operation Midnight Hammer, and now Epic Fury. Ask any woman, when a guy talks like that all the time, he tends to be Operation Warp Speed.

New Rule, someone has to tell the Kuwaiti fighter pilot who accidentally shot down three American F-15s this week because he mistook them for enemy Iranian pilots. Dude, all you have to do to tell who the bad guys are is watch movies. Enemy pilots, they all wear dark helmets to let everyone know they're evil. Our pilots, you can see them plain as day

and they're always hot. New rule, Gwyneth Paltrow, who lost an earring sometime during the actor awards, mustn't worry, it'll turn up. It's always in the last place you look. But let's not ignore the obvious. Have you checked your vagina? No, well, now that they've opened the first ever

dual Applebee's and IHop restaurant, Waffle House must combine with Denny's to battle them for white trash supremacy. With the winner getting to face the KFC Taco Bell combo in the championship wrap. White trash restaurants, they're just like movie studios. You got to get bigger or you'll die. Welcome aboard, Paramount.

I hope you like me. But in case you don't, I ain't gonna change. No rule, don't tell New Yorkers that the upside to the brutal winter they had this year is fewer rats in the street. Yeah, and also fewer weirdos hanging out in Times Square trying to fill you up, you know?

And if the rats aren't in the street or dragging pizza up from the subway, where are they? Yeah, your apartment. And finally, Someone has to help Donald Trump understand that I don't suffer from Trump derangement syndrome. He suffers from Bill Maher derangement syndrome. Okay, three weeks ago, I woke up to some things.

The president had written on his truth social media platform that somehow were not true. I don't know how they got in there. It's not like the president to just make things up when he's mad. But on this occasion, he did, which I forgive. But on Valentine's Day, that hurt. But just to set the record straight from what the president claimed, I didn't ask for the dinner.

Our mutual friend asked me. It's on tape from my podcast. Also, I wasn't nervous and scared, and the dinner wasn't quick. I was there almost three hours. And it wasn't vodka. It was a margarita. I didn't ask for it right away.

I had a drink before dinner. And then a couple more during. I was having a good time. So were you, Don, because we were talking. like real humans, not like that crazy act you put on in public. But I know that's what you do. You are, if anything, a man who wears his heart on his sleeve. And so you did hear, listing your accomplishments and how hurt you feel that people, including me, have not recognized them enough. I understand that feeling. You texted me soon after the dinner complaining I was still

part of the lunatic left. And how you should have won a Nobel Prize for ending wars. And I texted back, yeah. And I should have won 20. Emmys. We argued for a while, and you ended by saying, Bill, you know what, don't change. I wouldn't know what to do with you if you did. Okay, that's the normal human being. I saw the night we broke bread, and as long as I think there's even a spark of a possibility to bring that guy out more, I will not consider the dinner a waste of time. Even as I now see, we're back to name-calling, and that I have some new ones, like highly over-readed lightweight to add to the list you signed. Thank you. I'll be by with the new one.

But let's go through the things You're butt hurt about people not having noticed Because some people do have TDS But you know what? I've called people out through making hating you Their entire reason to live. Get a life. Stop making him your whole personality.

But Don, you have to take some responsibility for that Because you make people crazy Because you do things that are racist, misogynistic, anti-democratic, and corrupt. But I'll prove now I don't have the dreaded TDS. First off, despite all the hate I got from my side, I never threw you under the bus, and said, oh, you're right, I shouldn't have eight steak with Hitler.

Because that's stupid. Access to the president of the United States, are you kidding? You can't put a price on that. Although, Don, quite frankly, you do put a price on that all the time. I consider myself lucky. I got in to talk to you without giving you a 747 or buying your cryptocurrency or giving you my Nobel Prize.

But let's continue. You say no mention of the perfect border. The border is closed. The border's a win. The border's a win. You mentioned the mass removal of stone cold criminals. This is what got Trump elected. We're going to get the gangs out.

We don't want to become the kids. country. The taking out of Iran's nuclear capability. I was very supportive of bombing the nuclear facility in Iran. I thought that was great. Venezuela. Do I love everything about it? No. But do I hate it? No. If he somehow gets Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran all to be not these horrible places they were, he should get a Nobel Peace Prize. The return of the hostages and the peace deal in the Middle East, where the liberal panel was praising you. A lot of people tried to pull this off. He did. Give him If he's good at getting deals done overseas, give him credit for it. And here's a few you didn't even mention.

The Golden Dome Missile Shield. Just because Trump thought of it, I'm not against it. NATO. He said, look, NATO hasn't been paying their fair share. I'm going to make them do that. He wasn't wrong about that. Israel, moving Israel's embassy to Jerusalem, loved it. Animals and marijuana.

He did an animal rights thing that all my Peter friends loved. Pot is not a Schedule 1 anymore. you. Penises. Penises do not belong in women's prisons. He's not wrong about that. And not just penises. Ballroom. We don't have

a place when they have state dinners. They're doing an intent. This is America. So do I give a shit that he's doing this to the White House? I really don't. And giving props for saying about the Nick Fuentes Jew-hating wing of the Republican Party.

Trump is the one who said, and I give him credit for this. He said, we don't want you. And the economy? About a month ago, I said, look, I had to own it. I said, I thought by July 4th the economy would be in the shitter, and it wasn't. I was wrong. See, that's the difference between

you and me, Don. I can admit when I'm wrong, and I can be honest. In fact, I may be the last person from the lunatic left that is still an honest broker when it comes to you. But honest goes both ways. It's a shame you can't take criticism, because in an alternative

universe where we could have further honest conversations, I could say things to you that might be quite helpful. Like, Don, I'm going to love with you. I'm going to give it to you straight. Some people don't like you. No, really? Now, me, I go by what George Bush said to Obama on the day he was inaugurated.

We want you to succeed. I always want the American president to succeed. And I do give credit when you have. But there's lots of stuff you do. That is not my idea of success. every right to say so in a democracy. Ice? Yeah, I'm glad you got rid of stone-cold criminals, but no one wanted the sadism

and stupidity that went along with it. Doge, a complete disaster. People died for no reason, and it cut no government waste. Coal is not beautiful or clean. Criminalizing dissent is wrong, and so is the juvenile trolling and suing people into silence. Don, there are things that you do that we, not just me, but we, I mean, even the people

who are too scared to talk to you straight just don't get about you. Taking the side of autocrats instead of democratic allies around the world? Who hates Canada? And wind? You hate the wind? And then you wonder why I can't tell

what's a joke and what isn't. It's not derangement for me to be always calling out the election-denying obsession you have or the pardons from my friends and punishment for my enemy's mode of governing, or the side deals for your family that always seem to be part of everything. We see how rich you've all become, but the people of West Virginia don't seem to be feeling the winning.

A Democratic senator recently said of your administration, they are the elites they pretend to hate. Free advice, if the Democrats ever learn to weaponize that message, your MAGA movement is in business. big trouble. Thank you very much. That's our show. I want to thank my guest, Senator Adam Schiff, John Lemon, and Annabell Gurwitz.

Club Redham drops every Monday on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcast. Now go watch overtime on YouTube. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Hatch 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.