Real Time with Bill Maher - Overtime: Rep. Tim Ryan, Van Jones, Nayyera Haq, Matt Lewis | Real Time (HBO)

Episode Date: May 11, 2019

Bill Maher and his guests answer viewer questions after the show. (Originally aired 5/10/19) 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 Maugh. Okay, here are the questions that people wrote in. Congressman Ryan, given how Nancy Pelosi has performed as Speaker so far, do you regret your past opposition to her? Tough question right up to the past. Yeah, I think she's done a magnificent job handling Trump, not just the Trump dynamic, but protecting the integrity of Article 1 of the Constitution. I think she's done a phenomenal job.

and I don't regret it because we were able to over the last couple years we moved a lot of new people into leadership. Hakeem Jeffries, Catherine Clark, Ben Ray Lujan. But she was fighting? Well, we just needed to start getting some people in line and I think we were able to do that, but I think it worked out the best of both worlds.

Neera, does the drumbeat by the Trump administration to go to war with Iran remind you of the lead-up to the Iraq war? Oh, yes, of course. that the architect is the same, right? John Bolton is Mr. I want regime change. And I think what's concerning this time around is that Donald Trump has completely outsourced what our Middle East policy should be

to Saudi Arabia and Israel who also want to see regime change in Iran. And the scary thing is that regime change rarely happens without some bloodshed, without military involvement, and we also now have an election coming up in which he may think it's a good way to distract the American public.

Right. Well, one good thing about him winning, he doesn't need to. That's the one silver lining in Mueller fucking everything up was that now he's the big winner. He doesn't have to start a war. Matt Lewis, will you vote for Trump in 2020? No. Well, will you vote for the Democrat? You know, because if you don't vote for the Democrat, then you're just jerking off, Matt.

Well, I'll tell you who I... If you're going to write in John McCain, he's dead, he's not going to be president. Someday they're going to bring him back. back. He's being... I mean, we only get two choices in this country. And if you think Trump

is all that bad, then you vote for the Democrat. I'll tell you there's someone, and I like what I heard tonight, but do you know this Andrew Yang fella? Yeah, we have him on, we have him on, I think, coming up. He's starting to get popular. You're on the anti-circumcision platform? Well, that's a secondary

issue for me. Just checking. But I'm not in the Yang gang yet, but I like what he has to say. I think he's appealing to some interesting... So, depending. on the Democrat? Who? Absolutely.

Would you vote for Biden? No. No? No. Donald Trump versus Joe Biden, and you're going to take a pass on it. What thing you live in? I live in Virginia. Matters. Okay, so. I'm pro-life. You wouldn't vote? So, for me, the life issue

is a very important. That's a very important issue to a lot of people. Life or death issue. But then there's also, I can't vote for Trump because he's a bad person and the lack of character and integrity, so. But there's always one choice that's better. Matured people on understand. There's always one choice that's better. It's binary. It's not about idea. There's always one better choice. People say, if you don't

vote, then you can't bitch and complain, and I say, just watch me. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it anyway. Okay. Now that we know, Michael Cohen helped Jerry Falwell with blackmail photos, do you think Trump has something on other clients like Sean Hannity?

Well, I mean, I don't know if they even know this story, but yes, Michael Cohen. It came out from Tom Arnold. Tom Arnold. Yes, that Tom Arnold. befriended Michael Cohen in this recent period before Michael Cohen went to jail, which I think was today.

And only like a month ago, Michael Cohen said, I love this. Trump, not only is he probably a blackmailer, he lends out Michael Cohen as a blackmailer. And so Jerry Fowball Jr. is getting blackmailed by some guy.

We don't know who. With like racey photo Racy photographs. Michael Cohen comes in and says, I took care of it, except I kept one picture. So now he's black. And then it was very odd,

like a month later, Jerry Fowell Jr. endorsed Donald Trump. The evangelicals came around. It's not just the blackmail. It's blackmail, bullying, and the other B is bribery. Because if you watch the way that Trump actually gained,

is maybe a harsh word for this. But when Donald Trump was first running, thinking about running for the Republican nomination, the Trump Foundation started making donations to groups. I think $50,000 to CPAC. That was his big first foray. So I don't think that he probably has any sort of naked pictures of Sean Hannity.

I just think he's got multiple ways of coercion. Yeah. So, okay, does the restrictive, Does the restrictive abortion legislation in Ohio, Georgia, and Alabama concern you? If it's for you, but we can all... Yeah, no, absolutely. And we had a case just this week where... What is the legislation?

Well, it's super restrictive criminal penalties for the doctor. This week, an 11-year-old girl was raped, got pregnant. Tragic situation, obviously. Yeah. And under Ohio law that just went in... to affect this woman, this young girl could not have an abortion. And so that's the ultimate of the government being in the middle of it. That's the law right now in Ohio?

Just, yeah, it's just going into effect. If she can't, who can? I don't know if they would have to take her out of state or how it would work. But that sounds like no one in Ohio. Georgia's criminalizing going out of state now for receiving some kind of treatment. And with the six-week fetal heartbeat, which is actually not technically a heart there, it's just anyhow. That's the science behind it.

That's why you should have doctors and medical professionals involved in these decisions. But you, I mean, a woman can miss her period, not even know. You can miscarry. And now you could be arrested for that, for your body's natural rhythms can be used against you. What do you think about this? Well, look, I mean, it's obviously a horrible situation. I think most mainstream conservatives allow for exceptions, for, say, like the case of rape, for example. So you'd be against this?

I would I as a as a matter of public policy I would be against this so there are places I would I would said you're pro life yeah

but there is something that goes too far for you well yeah I think is it no look you could you could ask here's the problem that pro lifers have of course

is like once you make the argument that that life is precious and that this is an unborn child then it doesn't by that definition right if you just sort of carry that logic forward but politics is about

we live in a fallen world, we live in a messy world, and it's about making public policy decisions. And I think that's an example where I think 99% of pro-lifers would say, in that instance, that is an exception. Well, I mean, you had the entire Ohio legislature, House and Senate, and a Republican governor passed this. So, I mean, that is not the majority of Republicans. They control the House and Senate.

I think people forget, I think sometimes. They think the Roe versus Wade ruling in 1973 said abortion is legal. It did not. It said states, right? It passed it back to the states. It said, we're not making it illegal federally, but it's really... They're making it impossible at the state and local level to actually make these medical decisions absent any Supreme Court ruling. Okay. Funny stuff.

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. I appreciate you coming and helping us out. 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.