Real Time with Bill Maher - Overtime - Episode #507: Michael Moore, Bari Weiss, Krystal Ball, Michael Steele, Fernand Amandi

Episode Date: September 14, 2019

Bill Maher and his guests answer viewer questions after the show. (Originally aired 9/13/19) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 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 Maher. Yes. So, did you look at it? Did I lose the bet already? Well, we're still trying to verify it. I would practice Aloha if I were you.

People know every year I do, New Year's Eve. You do? December 30th in Maui and Honolulu and Mike are on the vacation one year. This year it's Sarah Silverman and Larry Miller are on the trip with me. It's going to be fantastic. So get your tickets now.

See, I turn that into a plug. Okay. Here are the questions. Cristobal, do you feel networks like MSNBC, which you used to work for and you used to work for, help or hurt progressive causes? Overall, I think MSNBC in the Trump era has done real damage to the left and I'll see why.

And I say that with love. I mean, these are my former colleagues, friends, right? Disfronted former employee. I know, that's right, that's the deal. No, I mean, look, the Russia. story and what happened there was important, but it was not all important. And they went so far in the realm of conspiracy theorizing. I mean, they had Jonathan Chade on. Well, it was a conspiracy. But they had Jonathan Chade on to talk about how Trump may have been a Russian plant since 1987. He may have been. This is ridiculous, okay? This is way out from what journalistic facts said. And it's to the exclusion of other stories that people actually care about, about health care, about trade, about the future of their lives, automation. These things are real. And they don't get focused. when you only look at one thing. So, yeah, they built up expectations so much

that when the report came down, people were like, oh, it was no big deal. I agree. It was like anything short of the key tape was nothing. Right. Well, the person who shit the bed was Robert Mueller. He can't even go after the taxes, seriously. That's your investigative technique.

Don't follow the money. Why did we put our faith in a Republican? He's a Republican. He's a lifelong Republican. What did we think? That was the mistake on MSNBC, is making him. this hero.

This hero. And shit the bed. He indicted the campaign manager, the deputy campaign manager. He let Trump off the hook. He took a memo, a fucking memo, not a law, not in the Constitution, just a memo. We did a whole thing on this. Remember that night? Right after it came outspoken, I agree with you.

But he laid it on a platter for Congress. How about if he just interviewed Trump? He didn't, the Trump didn't have to sit for. We got the taxes. The legal genius of Rudy Giuliani was able to protect Trump. from being interviewed by the prosecutor. Exactly. I mean, the whole thing is the taxes.

The reason why he may be a Russian asset is he's the worst businessman ever. So at a certain point, the only people who give money are the Russians. That's, you know. But Mueller didn't establish collusion per se because that's a technical term. He showed clear coordination between the campaign and the other. I think he did his job. Could he have done more sure? Did he do enough?

Absolutely. He fucked it up. And then it comes back to MSNBC, where it was. so overhyped, and they're not alone, right? There are plenty of people who were involved in the overhyping of this, but then what he did find, the facts were not enough for a public that expected, like Barry said, that they were going to get the pee tape.

My quick take on all of it was everything everybody said is absolutely right, but here's the rub at the end of the day. The Democrats in Congress, the media allowed the Attorney General to come out and define the narrative before the report was put on the table. So at that point, folks, it didn't.

It didn't matter what was in the report. That's right. Because we were told there's nothing here. And the report was too hard to follow. What is this bullshit about, like, we didn't not find... The thing. It's like, just tell us.

Okay. Fernand, what is the secret to Democrats winning Florida in 2020? Oh, good Q. Don't run Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee, who's a socialist in that state where there is no traction there.

The Democrats need to do what Barack Obama did in 2012. Go after the Hispanic vote now, start turning that vote. That is the swing state. If they do that, they'll take those 29 electoral votes with them. Quick quiz, which of the Democratic candidates polls best with Hispanics?

Number one, with Hispanics. Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders. That's right. So, look, I don't know Florida, you may be right about Florida. But you have Elizabeth Warren. That's a lot of Cubans, and there's this tape of Bernie complimenting Fidel Castro. Not Julian Castro.

And just the other night in the debate, he was unwilling. I think, I think, to, for Nance Parts, You've got to remember how we elect the president in the United States now, all right? And I know it's frustrating for a lot of folks, but Florida is important in terms of what you're saying. Yes, Hispanics, you know, you can find me a poll that says Hispanics support the president of Bernie. I like when you call on the president. At the end of the day, we don't elect the president nationally. So I tell people all the times, don't pay attention to the national polls.

Play attention to what's going on in the various states. That's what Trump did. what Hillary did. She focused on the big national picture that said she was going to win by this huge number, and he went in and he chipped away because he knew what the electoral number was he had to get. Florida and Texas are key

states in this upcoming election. By 2024, and I'm on the record saying this, the Democrats will have their navana because Republicans could potentially have lost, I mean, make it purple on a good day in Texas. Guess who's doing best in Texas in the most

recent poll? Bernie Sanders is a state one in Nevada is not going to win that election Nevada Nevada is the third of the primary caucus states in February Number one Bernie Sanders Okay let me ask you this Absolutely

Yes but I believe that about the top four or five They could beat him but Hillary beat him And we need to crush him Just beating Trump isn't going to be good enough Well you got to pay attention to the electoral map Because that's where you're going to win Exactly. You're going to win with the national strategy. And it's four states. Nevada is not one of them.

It's Florida. Right now it's Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Those are the magic four. It's all about seven. And how do you win Western... How does Bernie Sanders win Western Pennsylvania? Because he won it by losing Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. So we need to focus first on those three. And Bernie won the Michigan primary.

Bernie won the Wisconsin primary. That was just Democrats voting. Yes, but he actually... The people... He won't even identify as a Democrat for crying out loud. That's my advantage. That's what people are of him. Okay.

I was saying that there are a lot of Democrats running. Except for Democrats. Exactly. Let me ask this question of our Republican friend here because this audience, even though 90% of Republicans are friendly behind Donald Trump, we only see Never Trumpers.

We see people like you on TV and Nicole Wallace and Steve Schmidt and we know the roster. And you're a Never Trumper, right? You don't want Trump. I'm-asify myself, though, I am a Republican. As I say to folks, look, I've been in this party for 41 years. So you could vote for Trump?

No. Well, that's an effort. No, it's not. No, it's not. No, it's not. It's not in the sense, you know, saying, oh, you know, because I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. This is important. This is important. Because you wind up playing that political game when you start creating these kinds of labels. If you're not standing, to your point, Michael, if you're not standing for something, which is what you just, you just saw the exchange.

Bernie Sanders is a socialist, or he's not claiming he's a Democrat. And you're like, yes, that's a good thing. When you start using the labels, that works to the advantage of your opponents. So if you go back and study what happened with the never Trump narrative, right? Trump reveled in that. What he does not like is someone who stands there and said, listen to some of a bitch, this is how this is. I believe in these things. These are the things I value.

That's the fight. So you wouldn't ever vote for Trump? No. Okay. I did. Even if Bernie nominees vote for Bernie. So my question is, what do the never-trumpers do? What do they say?

The people on MSNBC who have gone very far left, because look who's giving them their paycheck, what do they say if it's Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren at the top of the ticket? Do they never Trump, would they vote for? Would Nicole Wallace vote for? They vote in Mike Bloomberg. Well, that's a bullshit.

Honestly, that's what people say to talk about. Yeah. So they're right-hand. Oh, wait a minute. Leave it blank. But that's part. And some will vote for me. There are a lot of folks like Nicole and Joe Scarborough and others who very, say, look, I'll

vote for the dog in the car if that's who the Democrats nominate. But why does it matter? They're like five people. What? This is the never Trump. I mean, I wouldn't remember more, but there's like five people. I know. I'm just amused because I see the moment.

I miss NBC. And I remember how they used to talk when they were talking with Bush and Romney. They didn't even want Obamacare. Right. But let's be clear. That you're identifying the people that you see on television. I read about the newspaper. Trust me, there's a much larger network

of folks out there. And this is the rub that gets into the core of what the Democrats have to do this next November. Is how do you make the argument to a center-right, Republican or independent candidate, I mean, a voter, to get them to support your candidate, your agenda.

Because someone like me, I don't, I can't separate, say, well, just because you're the candidate who's not Trump, I'm all in. I also need to take value in stock of what it is you're going to do. So to Bill's point in your discussion earlier, it matters to me when you say you're going to take away my private health care. It matters to me when you say we're going to open up the borders and give.

Actually, we're going to give you and you and every other America free health care. That's going to be paid for my taxes like in every other civilized country. You're going to get a lot of things if Bernie is your president. I don't believe in the government. giving me stuff like that because it's never free. Also, the idea that the government can you pay your taxes. But you have such faith in the government. The U.S.

government can really take over. The government can take. You have such faith in the corporate markets? I mean, Medicare is far more efficient. Medicare's far more efficient than private health insurance. Right now, we don't have a democracy because I'm not. But there's something in between. I mean, Elizabeth Warren always talks about the insurance

companies. That's not where most of the money. It's the hospitals. Thank you. Somebody has to stop the gout. It's the profit. motive in healthcare, which incentivizes, Michael Moore, thank you for educating us. Sickness is what our profit motive is incentivized.

But the practicality of the U.S. government taking over a sixth of the economy. It's crazy. I just don't have that kind of thing. We implement Medicare. They already do it. They take over, they do the police force, the fire department, the libraries, the public schools. The military. Talk about a percentage of the economy

in the voters, post office. their government does and they do a pretty good job of it as long as if it's the government of for and by the people. If it's the government of the corporations where their corporations are people, that's what we get screwed.

That's what we've got right now. And we need to look, let's go back to the thing we all agree on that we have to defeat Trump. If that's job one, that is going to happen when we put up a street-frightened woman or a street-frightened man

that is going to bring him down otherwise he will make mincemeat of the wrong Democrat during the campaign, and we cannot let that happen. Okay, we got to go. Thank you very much, everybody. 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.