Real Time with Bill Maher - Overtime – Episode #604: Danny Strong, James Kirchick, Krystal Ball

Episode Date: June 18, 2022

Bill Maher and his guests answer viewer questions after the show. (Originally aired 6/17/22) 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 Maugh. Robert's time. Okay, here are the questions. Jamie, in your new book, you write that Ronald Reagan's administration proved to be the gayest of any presidential administration

yet. Why is that? Just the sheer number of gay people working in it. Did he know? Well, actually, one of the big scoops in the book was that in 1980, three weeks before the Republican National Convention, it was brought to the attention of Ben Bradley, who was at the time the editor of the Washington Post,

the allegation that Ronald Reagan was being controlled, and I'm not lying here, that he was being controlled by a homosexual network of right-wing anti-communist gays. That could be. They were controlling him as a Manchurian candidate, and the Washington Post investigated this. They sent out Bob Woodward was one of the reporters,

several other reporters. They investigated it, and they did find, that there were some gay men working for Reagan, but the notion that this was some sort of conspiratorial, you know, plot. When the Log Cabin Republicans started? It sort of started two years earlier, actually, in California, when there was a ballot initiative to ban gay school teachers. And Reagan actually came out against it,

and Reagan was really decisive in defeating it, actually, in 1978. And Log Cabin Republicans, of course, refers to Lincoln, who was ginger fluid? I mean, there's rumors. He shared a bed with a man for several years on the American frontier, which was not that unusual in the 19th century. Although if you read the letters that he exchanged with the sky, they're pretty hot and heavy.

Right. He also went to the Tonys every year. Just saying. Just saying. What's the same? Crystal, CNN's new boss wants the network to steer away from sensational hyper-partisan coverage. Yes, I saw that.

CNN, you can't say, you can't refer to the election as the big lie, or Trump's big lie as the big lie. Which, again, see, I mean, I'm totally on the page of it was the big lie, but I think that's the right thing. I mean, now you're MSNBC, even though it's sort of like Jack Del Rio. He's totally wrong, but I defend his right to be wrong.

Okay. Do you think CNN will actually stick with this new plan? No. I mean, they actually don't. No? My issue isn't actually with opinion journalism. If you're up front about what your lens is, what you're eye, no problem with that whatsoever. I do have a problem when it blinds you to facts and honesty.

And I think both CNN and MSNBC, their maximalist ideas in terms of Russiagate, didn't end up working. So that's the issue I have there. Will it work? No. Because ultimately, what's going to happen? Trump's going to come back. Guess what's going to rate the people who go, you know, the furthest in on Trump. That's what's going to get the best ratings.

This is a business. It's a business model. I think it's an abhorrent one that leads to a disaster for America. I think it's a cancer on society, all of the cable networks. But ultimately, those are the incentives they respond to. So, no, I don't think it's going to really change. So what do you mean by maximalist ideas about Russia? Like the pee tape stuff, you know, MSNBC.

The SEAL dossier. MSNBC floating that he's been a Russian asset since 1985. That sort of stuff. Well, I mean, the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is controlled by Republicans, said that Trump's involvement with Russia was a grave national security threat. Okay, but that's not the same as saying Putin has a P-Tape and servers are bouncing back and forth. P-taped was always lurid and who knows. I mean, if you don't like that one, then let's talk about the lab leak and the idea of where the coronavirus came from

and the fact that these outlets said that not only could it no way could it come out of the lab, but that's racist to say. I've been all over that. That's what I'm saying is I have an issue when your ideology blinds you to facts. I have that issue every week on the last. this show. Yes. Yes. I'm not having an issue with opinion journalism is what I'm saying. But the idea that Russia and Trump

were inappropriately intertwined. I mean, his campaign manager, Manafort, was getting, sharing, polling information with this guy, Kalimnik, who was... The Mueller report found that there was no collusion. And we were promised this. We were promised this for three years.

They overpromised. And it was really, and cable news. But there wasn't nothing. It wasn't nothing. It was something. There was something. It wasn't. It wasn't nothing. But you know what, the truth was bad enough with Trump and Russia? Correct. Why did they have to embellish it? You're right.

Why did they have to embellish it? What was, what he did in public? Was bad enough. Right. We disqualified him for the presidency. Right. He said that maybe Crimea should, maybe Russia can keep Crimea. That to me was disqualifying.

How about siding with Putin? That too. At Helsinki. Right. Like, my 17 intelligence agencies tell me one thing. I've got to go with you, Vlad. It was a disgrace. But they couldn't.

Just side with America. Is that a big ass? The problem was so many people in the media, they couldn't take that alone. It had to be this Baroque conspiracy going back to 1987. He was recruited by the KGB. I mean, it was such a scandal,

actually, when you look back on it, how we were deluded by this. What we were sold and what the reality was, we're not the same. I don't think anyone can say that. But since he doesn't care about, he's a clinical narcissist. But our standards cannot fall because of him.

But the idea that he would do that is completely believed. And he would have done it. That's why people bought it. But if you're in the news business, I mean, that's right. I think cable news is such a cancer, is because ultimately it is just about the ratings.

They don't care they got it wrong. They're never going to correct the issues. And so, is that going to change with the new boss? No. And it's just about saying the things that make your audience go yes, I already believe that. Thank you for reinforcing what I believe. And never letting anything outside of the bubble in. And that's Fox News. That's MSNBC. Exactly.

Yeah. Okay. Danny, if you could write a screenplay about the 2020 election. Okay, so, right, I was going to ask you, the game change. Mm-hmm. Okay, that was about 2008 and Sarah Palin. Sure. That was great. Love that.

My boy Woody Harrelson was in that one. Great guy. Great guy. Great actor. Okay. The other one you did, recount, was about the 2000 election. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, you're kind of due for writing. A new election movie.

Yeah. So this question is, what would you? you title it and are you thinking about doing that? We got to do Romney Obama first though. That's the real action is a... That's an exciting. I watch a movie. I think that

yeah I mean look, the problem with doing a Trump movie because the guy who directed those two movies, Jay Roach and I, have been talking about it for years is every day is crazier than the day before. Yes. Right? So how do you turn that into a piece of drama

that has something to say that doesn't become, you know, irrelevant the day after you start writing it. Right, and he could be president again. And then there's a new movie. And then put you in Guantanamo Bay for making that movie. Exactly. All right. Thank you, everybody. I appreciate you coming.

Thank you, back. 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.