Bill Maher & Fareed talk Trump, 'wokeness', midterms & more

[0:00] I wanted to talk about all things midterms [0:02] with a man who aims his political arrows [0:04] at both the right and the left, Bill Maher. [0:08] After appearing on his HBO program, [0:10] Real Time, on Friday night, [0:12] we turned the cameras around and I interviewed him. [0:15] I should note CNN and HBO share the same parent company. [0:19] Bill Maher, pleasure to have you back on the show. [0:21] The tradition continues. [0:23] You do my show, I do yours. [0:24] Absolutely, and it's a pleasure both ways. [0:27] So I want to talk to you about the midterms [0:30] because I was reading Nate Silver [0:32] and he says at this point, [0:34] anyone who tells you that the Democrats [0:37] are not favored to win both the House and the Senate [0:40] is just being overly cautious. [0:42] That if you read the polls, [0:45] it's a 10-point gap now between Republicans [0:49] and Democrats on the House and in the Senate, [0:51] if you look at the races, most of them, [0:53] that the Democrats need to win, [0:55] they are leading by small margins, but they are leading. [0:59] That's a long way from where things looked a year ago. [1:04] What do you think has happened [1:06] that has kind of collapsed the Republican support? [1:11] Trump screwed the pooch. [1:13] That's what happened. [1:14] He got drunk with power. [1:16] This is the pattern in this country. [1:19] Somebody gets elected, [1:21] they go way too far with their side of things. [1:24] Biden did it to a degree with wokeness [1:26] and he was too feeble to fight the far left. [1:29] And particularly on immigration [1:31] where he just let in way too many people. [1:32] Absolutely. [1:34] And then the other people get in [1:35] and they reverse everything, [1:37] but not just reverse it. [1:40] We're going to be shooting people in the street. [1:42] How about that? [1:43] And it just, he's lost even a lot of his own people. [1:47] I mean, that's, that is, it was so easy just to come in [1:51] and undo the bad and, but nobody does that. [1:55] And so this is going to be, [1:58] I don't care what they say about, [2:00] oh, well, maybe not. [2:01] It is, sorry guys, it is. [2:03] It's going to be a classic historical ass whooping. [2:08] Now, 2028 is a different story. [2:11] The Democrats have a crazy animal living [2:16] in their house called the DSA. [2:18] And they believe truly insane things. [2:21] And they're the energy of the party. [2:23] And they're going to make Gaza is a genocide, [2:26] a litmus test and a lot of other really stupid stuff. [2:29] But this electorate right now is saying, [2:31] we will get to that issue. [2:33] Right now we have one piece of business in front of us. [2:36] And that is to let Donald Trump know [2:40] we don't like what he did. [2:41] He went too far. [2:43] He didn't, he didn't keep his word on the things [2:45] that were important to us, [2:47] ranging from Epstein to no wars, [2:51] to the economy is going to be better, [2:53] inflation, gas prices, all that stuff. [2:56] And this is what we need to register our feelings on in 2026. [3:01] We'll get to the other stuff later, perhaps. [3:03] But right now we have one message. [3:05] Donald Trump went too far and his party will pay. [3:09] Trump had, has or had good political instincts. [3:13] I mean, he's, you know, he's, you've got to give him that, right? [3:17] Totally. [3:18] What's changed, do you think? [3:19] I don't know. [3:20] That's, that's, that is, that is the question [3:22] someone should write the book about. [3:23] Because I, I don't know, you're right. [3:25] He had a connection to his voters that nobody else in the party had, [3:31] which is why they all feared him. [3:33] And some still do. [3:35] I mean, we saw this Eric Schmidt guy make a fool of himself this week, [3:38] because he was still, and I just wanted to say, [3:40] and John Kennedy, Senator Kennedy, [3:42] who I had on this show recently, and I liked him very much, [3:45] and he's not a dumb guy at all. [3:47] And, and he was saying to Jack Smith, you know, [3:51] you made me throw up in my mouth. [3:53] And the other guy was saying. [3:54] Wait, who throws up in their mouth? [3:56] Do you even get that? [3:57] It's just, it's so graphic, you know. [3:59] And the other guy's calling him a dirtbag. [4:01] And I'm, I just wanted to say to him, guys, this is so a year ago. [4:05] You know, you're, you're kissing ass with the big man [4:08] who doesn't have that kind of pull anymore. [4:11] In fact, it may be more dangerous for the Republicans to be seen with him. [4:17] And we've seen a lot of this already. [4:18] People who've taken the endorsement off the website, [4:22] people who are campaigning Republicans now, [4:24] and who are disavowing specific issues, [4:27] like in Florida, about the immigration. [4:30] I mean, he, he's losing a lot of the people [4:32] that he did well with last time, [4:34] or better than we thought, like immigrants. [4:36] Part of the problem, I think, for the Republicans is, [4:39] he's still at something like an 85% approval rating among Republicans. [4:44] He's at a 2% approval rating with Democrats. [4:47] But it's those independents that he's losing very fast. [4:50] And it feels like the Republicans are still worried [4:53] because he can still primary them, right? [4:56] Or it's somebody who just doesn't want to give the pollster [4:59] the satisfaction of saying, I'm not with Trump. [5:02] Because all the other eight times you called me about this, [5:04] I said I was, and now I kind of feel bad about it, you know? [5:07] You kind of have to own it. [5:08] It's sort of like the guy who leaves Scientology. [5:10] Do you think the polls could be wrong in that way, [5:13] that there are still... [5:14] No. [5:15] There aren't shy Trump voters anymore. [5:16] They're going to get their ass kicked. [5:17] It's going to be brutal. [5:19] When you think about the Democrats, because if that is true, [5:22] do you worry that it then emboldens the Democrats to think, oh... [5:26] Totally. [5:27] Of course. [5:28] That's the big worry. [5:29] I do. [5:30] They will misinterpret this. [5:32] They will misinterpret the thumping that the Republicans get [5:35] as an endorsement for the insanity that a good part of the party wants to march toward. [5:45] And I'm talking about DSA ideas about, like, abolishing the police. [5:49] And some of them have walked back what they said. [5:52] It was only a couple of years ago. [5:54] Some of them, oh, I don't know, I was... [5:56] You were in your 20s. [5:58] Only in this country is someone in their 20s a child. [6:00] How can you trust me what I said? [6:02] Well, I do trust that you meant what you said then. [6:05] I mean, communism, you know, we did try it. [6:08] I put the blame on this with our educational system. [6:10] If you haven't taught kids what communism was, if they just have this very sort of airy-fairy [6:17] idea that it's, oh, it's everybody from each according to his needs, yeah, we did that. [6:22] We tried that. [6:23] Somebody had that idea. [6:24] Maybe it was worth trying. [6:25] What do you make of AOC saying woke one was crazy and just laughing it off? [6:31] Woke two is right here. [6:34] I saw a story this week about this woman. [6:38] She's a CEO at some company and she and her family took pictures with a sweatshirt that [6:44] said Lake America because Trump has renamed one of the lakes. [6:48] It's one of those things he does like the reflecting pool, the ballroom that I don't care about. [6:54] I said before he got elected the second time, I'm not going to do what I did the first time [6:58] and worry about every little thing he does. [7:00] I'm going to worry about the important things. [7:02] I don't really care about the ballroom. [7:03] She probably could use a ballroom, okay, reflecting pool, renaming things. [7:08] She got fired, fired for a picture that said Lake America, and it wasn't even a political [7:16] statement. [7:17] They said they were just having fun with it. [7:20] And there was a statement, sorry for the pain this caused members of our community. [7:24] The pain, you know, if you think a sweatshirt is causing pain, woke one either isn't over [7:31] or woke two is just as bad. [7:34] This stuff has not gone away, I'm sorry. [7:36] Not dead, just resting. [7:37] What's your reaction to Trump deciding that he's going to go after you again? [7:42] He's been going after me since right after the first dinner when I went and came back [7:50] and did my job here and did what I always said I would do, which is honestly tell you [7:55] what I think about what he's doing. [7:57] And he was very angry at me. [7:58] And in person he is very charming, but were you surprised that he then turned? [8:03] Of course not. [8:04] He did it this week and he said, oh, his ratings are low, he's so sad, it's sad, how bad he's [8:09] doing it. [8:10] And I was like, you know, this is like getting called a hockey puck by Don Rickles. [8:14] You know, it's like I don't even hear it anymore. [8:16] It's so constant. [8:18] You know, when he tried to stop me from getting the Mark Twain award, I just, I was like, that's [8:23] the game. [8:24] Did he actually try to stop me, tried and it didn't happen. [8:28] I did wind up getting it, but I mean, that's what the game is. [8:32] I'd rather be involved. [8:34] You know, I'd rather have the conversation going. [8:36] I still want to talk to him. [8:38] I mean, I, I feel like you'd say if he invited you to dinner, you'd still go, you'd go totally. [8:44] Absolutely. [8:45] Because look, not talking guarantees you nothing. [8:49] And he is not a guy with a lot of fixed opinions. [8:52] Yeah. [8:54] You know, you, people do change his mind all the time. [8:56] Yeah. [8:57] That's a guy who doesn't exactly. [8:58] He was against wars. [8:59] Yeah. [9:00] He was against you. [9:01] Yeah, yeah. [9:02] He talked him into that. [9:03] Well, some, something happened. [9:05] And I think he was always pretty consistent about that. [9:08] But I mean, the first time I was with him, I tried to tell him that I thought the Obama [9:11] deal should have at least been given a chance. [9:14] But he was fine talking about it. [9:16] He didn't agree. [9:17] That doesn't matter. [9:18] It's water under the bridge. [9:19] Fede complete. [9:20] We're in a different place. [9:21] But yeah, he, he does not read the briefing books. [9:25] Everything is done by people of saying. [9:27] So be one of the people saying, you know, he needs more people like me talking to him, [9:32] not less. [9:33] He, I think he actually doesn't like the fact that all he has around him are boring ass kissers. [9:39] He's that guy who wants you to kiss his ass, but then he doesn't respect you when you do, [9:45] you know? [9:46] He needs a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate. [9:48] What do you think happens to Trump? [9:50] Does he, how does he behave in that situation? [9:54] What can he do? [9:55] What can he really do? [9:57] You know, look, I was one of the first to- [10:01] I think he fights. [10:02] He gets more assertive. [10:03] He asserts executive power even more. [10:05] But power begets power and he's losing power. [10:10] The more power you have, the more you get, the more you lose, the more you continue to lose. [10:16] People don't fear him like they once did. [10:18] So you really think this is peak Trump and we're just going to see him decline? [10:21] I don't know what he can do. [10:22] I mean, if he, if it really was going to be as bad as I thought it was going to be 10 [10:26] years ago, he would have shut down the New York Times. [10:29] The New York Times has never stopped printing everything it ever wanted to say about him. [10:33] I have never pulled one punch, which is why he got mad at me again, saying, well, you [10:39] know, he had on somebody recently was interviewing him and they mentioned the no Kings day. [10:44] And he said, if I was a king, I wouldn't be talking to you. [10:47] On that hopeful note. [10:50] It's funny. [10:51] You got to give him that. [10:52] Bill Maher. [10:53] Pleasure to have you on. [10:54] Thank you. [10:55] Fernando. [10:56] Thank you. [10:57] Thank you. [10:58] Thank you. [11:00] Thank you. [11:02] Thank you.