Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO series Real Time with Bill Maher. Thank you so much for coming in and. Testing and helping. Thank you very much. Oh, I appreciate. I'm glad you're glad you're in a good mood. I got thank you. I got to tell you, I had kind of an up and down week. Oh, I got all my money finally out of GameStop.

And I. I put it all into Dr. Seuss books, so I just up and down. Yeah. I'm sure you heard about the big controversy this week. Yes. Dr. Seuss, the estate canceled. The six books were discontinued for depictions that they said were hurtful and wrong, especially that one passage where the Grinch says whose will not replaces that was.

Oh, hi. Delayed laughter is fine as long as there's laughter. That's I don't care how long it takes to get there, I'm just happy for it.

Yeah, I can't keep up with who's on the shit list anymore.

You know, Mr. Potato Head is I didn't even know what this fucking thing was. Potato Head is no longer Mr. Potato Head.

I'm not sure why, but he's just Potato Head.

I'm not making this. I can't I can't keep up. Parody cannot keep up. Also, Silly Putty is now on the spectrum. Pudi, I just. But, you know, among the things I like about Joe Biden, he doesn't he doesn't buy into this culture war shit, he ignores it and he's got a 60 percent approval rating. So, you know, I think.

Yeah, and. Also, levels of malarkey have never been lower, just a good indicator we have, but now we are actually as divided as ever.

15 states like you started with Texas and Mississippi, Alabama, Wyoming, Iowa, no more masks. They're completely opening up.

Again, I tell you, half the countries with Dr. Fauci and half of the movie, the Dr. Seuss and Texas, Wolf, they are really radical on this. Do not mess with their guns, their God or their two dollar shooters at Applebee's.

These motherfuckers, the governor of Texas, he quoted Patrick Henry. Well, not not an exact quote. He said, give me liberty and give me death. So he.

And President Biden, he is he's not who he's mad about this, he says opening up too soon. We're jumping the gun. He's called this Neanderthal thinking. And listen to this. Marsha Blackburn, Trump loving Republican senator from Tennessee, defended Neanderthals.

Again, I can't keep up with the comments she did. She said Neanderthals, their protectors of family, they're resilient and they're resourceful and they're extinct.

I feel we should enter that into the record. Oh, I mean, it was a sad week for the Trump nuts this week that the Kuhnen cult. Yes, yesterday, March 4th.

Wink, wink, we're supposed to be the day in Kuhnen nut world when the real inauguration would take place and Trump would be revealed as the one true president, just as the ancient prophecy predicted in the tweet of revelations.

Who are these people who believe this shit? We don't know what the proud boys are proud of, but it's not their grades.

I don't think is I mean. I try not to be too mean, but I mean, well, I don't try that hard. I mean, you know, they believe in the Democrats running a giant pedophile ring and that they eat babies and Jewish space lasers. And the latest, I'm not making this up, that Obama is Hitler's grandson.

And then you mentioned covid and they go, you can't believe everything you hear.

But if you are any cute people out there, you know, I am q good news. You know, if you're crestfallen from this news this week and you need a hug, Andrew Cuomo is available.

I just want to know what are we doing already? But because he's a Democrat.

Excuse me, how can a politician of this high profile be this fucking stupid? We're we're four years into the Metsu era. He's this dumb that you don't get don't hit on the help. Don't touch people without their permission. Thank you. One guy.

What could this guy be thinking?

You know, he's hitting on when he said, you know, he told the girl, I'm open to a relationship with a woman in her 20s. No kidding.

How big of you. What is this? Yes. Who hasn't dreamed of banging Chico Marx? Some people remember unmarked and they're laughing their ass off right now, not not a big contingent, but but now Cuomo apparently asked one of the staffers she was 25, how she felt.

This is, you know, his heard version. But I don't think he's denying how she felt about having sex with older men. And then he said he was just making small talk.

It just just just, you know, pick a subject, any subject. I don't have anything in the world sex with older men. What do you think? Start the conversation.

He's an amazing man in Italian with no game.

And so so tone deaf. You know, a lot of people want him to resign now. And he said he is not going to leave his job because then where am I going to meet chicks?

Tone deaf.

He said, I know people are disappointed me, but I'm sorry. I just won't quit, you know, like Giglio's ass.

I mean, this guy. All right. We've got a great show. We have Charlamagne and Frank Bruni. But first off, he's co-host on MSNBC's Morning Joe and author of Saving Freedom Truman The Cold War and the Fight for Western Civilization. Morning Joe Scarborough.

Great to see you, human beings. Yes, human being. I have not seen you in a good, laughing human being. This is our best crowd yet. So sort of delayed laughter some time. Just once. But that's OK. I'm good. Chico Marx. Chico Marx name. Yes, good. I know if you remember Chico Marx. Of course I do. Yeah. I'm old.

We're old.

We've been doing this for a long time, but I never had kids. So I feel like I may be old, but I'm still the latest version of me. It makes a big difference.

I have four kids aged 62 to 12, so I've been doing this for a long time. You know, though, it's crazy.

I you know, I've been doing this with you well, a long time, but not recently. That's I'm going to ask you, the last time I saw you, you were a Republican.

Yeah, well, I mean, what I like nineteen twenty four babies. This is a really quick before we talk about that, it's so nice to be here and your people stick around like this is a family has been here for twenty five. Yes. Twenty five years. I mean that's. Oh yeah. An awful lot of you are an awful lot about them.

Well. They are the nicest people, I would say they make up for the snarky host and, you know, it helps, yeah, it helps us.

But honestly, tell me about this, because when you're an independent now. Yeah. So what does that say to me? It says that you think the Republican Party is unsurvivable. Unsurvivable. Oh, no doubt about it. Because otherwise you would want to stay on. Right. And reform it. But you think it's it can't be saved. It cannot be saved. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's it's the craziest thing in the world because again, talking about us and when I first came here, I remember you were the only guy that would actually defend conservative.

Somebody attacked me on my first show here, I think called me a bigot and a racist because I was a Republican from the South, a conservative. And you defended me. And it's always very nice, you know, somebody defending somebody because they're conservative. I used to get attacked by liberals because I was a conservative. Now I'm getting attacked by people who voted for a fascist because I'm a conservative. And that's, you know, my friends and my family members, they all voted for it.

And it's it's been hard for me to sort of process it. But the only way I've been able to come to terms with it is, you know, they're not fascists.

But they voted for an ignorant man who is a fascist, I don't understand why I've seen focus groups over the past couple of days of Trump voters who still with supporting who say things like, I like Donald Trump because of where he stands.

I can't even say with a straight face on the issues. Now, you tell me, what the fuck does that mean?

What what what does he what issues. But what what issues what issues does this guy share with conservatives?

Biggest he left with the biggest the biggest debt ever.

He undercut all of our allies, all of all the allies that Reagan championed. He he embraced Russia. I know.

But he's gone, you know. I mean, we still talking about cause seventy five million people. And I've got to say. All of my people, my tribe, they voted for him, so when when I see these focus groups, I feel like it's that you'll remember this movie because you remember Chico Marx. There was this late 60s movie called Journey to the other side of the side. Yeah. Where everybody looked the same, but everything was opposite.

And so when I see focus groups with Trump supporters, I'm like, yeah, that's they all voted for me and the strangest things come out of their mouth.

Well, when they took the straw poll at CPAC, the conservative convention last week, the big issue. Way bigger than the ones you would think would be bigger, like abortion. Election integrity, right. The Republican Party, as it is now, is sort of becoming a one issue party. We was robbed. We have to prevent Democrats from voting. That seems to be their raison d'être now. So you would admit everybody, I think, in America would that we need to we probably need five parties, but we need at least two.

So if we only have the Democrats and the conspiracy theory party that can't work, there has to be loyal opposition to the Democratic Party because like here in California, we don't have it right.

That's why I can't get my solar turned out.

Oh, damn. I mentioned the gay.

You know, I look I look at some of the senators who really disappointed me over the past four years, and I look at how they responded on January the 6th, and it's really important what they did.

Who are we talking about? Cruz and Holly? No, no.

They should be in jail. Cruz and Holly are sitting down.

They should be in jail.

Well, you can look you can look at the federal statute for four for inciting sedition. And it seems to me it's what they did. But you look at some of the senators, Ben Sasse, who came out, was was quite critical on the House side. You look at Liz Cheney, I will say this, too. I gave him hell for four years. But Mitch McConnell on the 6th when he stood up and he said this is the most important vote I've taken in my lifetime and we're going to vote today and we're not going to let the mob have their say.

That was significant. There are some Republican, Liz Cheney in the House who stood up. There's some Republicans who have stood up actually for basic things, like a peaceful transfer of power.

But didn't Mitch McConnell then say he's going to vote for Trump if he ran again? I mean, how how is that standing up? I don't know if Cruz should be in jail. I don't know why Mitch McConnell shouldn't be his mate.

But some of these the guy who took your seat, I mean, not politically in Florida.

Yeah. What was you representing? The Panhandle first district of Florida. You first. OK, so what if that is the excuse me, the Redneck Riviera? Yeah. Is that the.

Well, we've always called it the redneck L.A. also lower Alabama, right? Yeah.

And this guy, Matt Gates, if you don't remember him, show the picture.

He's I always say I hate this nerd congressman.

And he does look like a guy from Dr. Seuss.

By the way, did you have that picture there? I mean, he looks almost exactly. Just let's use that as an encapsulation of where the Republican Party has migrated, you represented that district in the 90s. When was your last year in Congress? 2001, 2001.

And guess what? In 2001, we had a one hundred and fifty five billion dollar surplus. We balanced the budget four years in a row. We did things that small government conservatives said they were for. That's what we did. Well, we have the biggest deficit ever, the biggest national debt ever. Donald Trump broke the record for deficits and debt even before covid. So they don't the Republican Party. Right. I mean, again, their own problems, but they just don't.

There just aren't a lot of conservatives in there.

And Bill Clinton, I think, was president when they got the budget down to zero. Yeah. And by the way, by the way, he worked with us all every step of the way, right?

Well, no, he didn't really did. But he he he ended up he ended up having to sign a lot of the stuff.

All right. I want to mention your book before we run out of time, because we really don't want to debate. No, I didn't want to be a Trump.

Yeah. Yeah, I know. I'm not really. I'm really not. Let's go back to Truman because that's your book. OK, I'm obsessing. Got the 75 million people who voted for Trump. OK, so. But why Truman? Because, you know, you could have written about anybody. Right? And look, I think I was reading it. It's fantastic read because, I mean, I'm a history major. I love history. And that's a period right after World War Two that I think is people don't realize how much the world could have gotten fucked up beyond recognition because people are complacent after something like a big war, you're exhausted.

And Truman was the guy who brought us NATO and put Stalin on notice. You're not going to be able to take over the rest of the world, the Marshall Plan. So that's why you wanted to write it, because you thought he never got his do? Well, yeah. I mean, he he he did more things over a short period of time, had had a bigger inbox over a shorter period of time, I think, than any president.

My God. And any any president, obviously, since World War two. But what I loved about Truman was he actually he knew how to make things work because he was actually a product of Washington, D.C., had been a senator for ten years. And I get so sick and tired of people saying, oh, I want an outsider. I want to know if I'm getting brain surgery. I don't want an outsider. I want somebody who's operate, you know, operated on on a thousand different people if I'm flying in a plane, the same thing.

And so Truman actually knew how to surround himself with the best and the brightest he had.

He had the greatest, greatest people around him, whether it was Avril Harriman or whether it was George and Biden as well.

You're saying that that's similar? Well, when I wrote to Washington, he's a product of Washington.

Right. He should he should know he didn't just get into town a couple of weeks ago. He should know how Washington works. So I bet with Truman, I started writing it at the beginning of the campaign. But, you know, experience matters. Yes, we actually need experts. And more importantly, we need somebody that can reach across the aisle. And Truman did this even though he was a partizan. He reached across the aisle to Arthur Vandenberg.

He worked with him every day. He said, I'm not going to surprise you. This is what we need to do. Stalins on the march, he dealt with a lot of isolationists. He said, this is the mistake we made with Hitler a decade ago. We can't make it again with Stalin. And the Soviets are on the march in Greece and Turkey. And he actually he there was a partnership with the Republicans and he had not only work with Vandenberghe during the day, he would send his staff over at night and go by his townhouse and say, OK, this is what we did today.

You have any problems with this? And I know people say, oh, well, Washington can't work that way anymore. I think it can. Yeah, but you to have to actually know how Washington works, you need someone who remembers Chico Marx.

Exactly. Thank you, Joe. Morning, Joe. Thank you for coming by. Great to see you again. All right. Let's meet our panel. Here they are. Wow, what an all star group today. Here's an op ed columnist for The New York Times and a CNN contributor. Our friend Frank Bruni is over here.

Frank, how are you doing? And he's co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show The Breakfast Club, and I heard Radio, Charlamagne, that God is on our show.

For doing this, I didn't know the table moment, I thought the enemy kicked in early. I don't think yikes. Yes, well, that's the Ouija board.

I'm used. OK, so, gentlemen, I want to talk about money tonight just to start, because that's what the Democrats ran on. They ran on getting a minimum wage to people in America and that has been stalled. But now I'm reading about Biden is compromising on the stimulus plan, which I think he should. It's one point nine trillion dollars. Here's what I read in your paper, Frank. The plan would send fourteen hundred dollar checks to individuals earning up to 75000.

And couples making 150000 would get 4500 dollars. Meanwhile, 53 million Americans. That's forty four percent of all workers have low wage jobs. No kidding. Median hourly wage is ten dollars and 22 cents an hour means they take in eighteen thousand a year. I mean, I understand not being able to pass the minimum wage because you're fighting the Republicans. I think they should keep trying and I think they should die on that hill. By the way, we'll get to that.

I don't understand writing a bill where you're sending out checks to people who make one hundred and fifty thousand instead of more to the people who make 18.

And that's the Democrats. So anyone want to. Anyone want to defend the Democrats on that? No, great. OK. It's crazy, right? Is that not fucking crazy?

It's insane, you know, and for me, it's just like, yo, who gives a shit? The national debt is twenty seven trillion dollars already. What's the extra one point nine trillion dollars you to wait until you're going to wait until you're already twenty seven trillion dollars in debt and start complaining about where the fucking money goes?

No, but I think if you're going to send the money out, I wouldn't send it to people who are making one hundred and fifty.

I don't know if they need to check for you're being an idealist. You're looking for legislation that's made with a scalpel. Most legislation is made with a meat cleaver. And that's that's that's the case here. I mean, if you go through this bill and you look at all of the different, you know, proposals in it, you're going to find some stuff that looks really smart and that you like and you're going to find some stuff that but that seems giant and glaring.

And I just feel like if the Democrats don't win this minimum wage battle, this is their last chance to win back the little guy. You know, if you can't win this one, I feel like they should this should be whatever the nuclear option for this would be, whatever Mitch McConnell would do to win this, because otherwise you're not. Who are you?

You're not the guy for the little guy. No, I agree. I mean, No. One, they would be keeping a campaign promise. Right. And that's who is just the right thing to do. Like I was reading the editorial when my man, Reverend William Barber, and he said that a 15 dollar minimum wage increase will lift 40 percent of black workers, workers and 62 million poor and low income, low income Americans of every race. If you have the opportunity to make somebody's life better, you just simply do it.

You know, no one is. It's the right thing to do morally and it's the right thing to do politically. Like if Kamala Harris wants to run for president in the future, you think people aren't going to remember who put money in their pocket like I remember who used to give me free food at McDonald's when I was young, you know? I mean, they'll never forget that. And also. Yes, but let's be clear.

The Democrats didn't just leave this on the side of the road. They didn't just say, OK, let's cut this out. The parliamentarian said, no, this can't be part of this particular relief and stimulus package.

Yes, they will come back at this. They absolutely will. For the reasons we're all talking about. This is a perfect alignment of their political ideals, their political philosophy, and a really popular issue in Florida this last election cycle.

While Floridians were voting for Donald Trump, more than 60 percent of them voted for the minimum wage to go up in that state to fifteen dollars by twenty twenty six. And Florida is not a purple state. Florida's kind of reddish, actually.

And so this is a winner. This is a big winning issue for the Democrats over economically because.

Yes, I'm sorry, but that eventually, whatever that number is that you cited there, the dead. Twenty seven trillion, it's going to catch up to us. How can you figure there's going to be a crash? I mean, you can't you can't keep going on like this. And then and then we're all going to be poor. Yeah.

But the only time America complains about money is when they got to give it to the people who actually need it.

Well, and that's but here's the thing. If you went when when the minimum wage is this low, you know who winds up paying the government? McDonald's doesn't pay its workers enough. So then they get food stamps. So the government is really subsidizing a giant corporation like McDonald's.

Meanwhile, I'm reading about Lady Gaga had her dogs kidnaped. Did you cover this story? Sort of.

Kind of. I did not. Kind of. OK, yes. What happened? She offered a half a million to get them back just for information. Not even the dogs is just half a million dollars for information leading. And I think she got them back finally. But I was going to volunteer. I think I know where those dogs.

Oh, I heard some shit on the street, but they were spending money on bullshit is the American way.

They spent ten point seven trillion on a failed F-35 fighter jet. But when it comes to the American people, they're complaining about winning dollars. That I know.

But it just struck me as funny that I hear so much about privilege. But when it's somebody who is on the blue team, we just left because really half a million dollars of information are money dogs.

Right? It's our money. Absolutely. I'm glad you feel that way.

Hey, if I had a half a million dollars for a reward when I lost something, I probably wouldn't offer it, but I probably would. I don't have a kind of money, so I can't even put myself in that mindset.

OK, so they were very cute dog pictures of them. They were OK. So last month, Biden ministration said, speaking of money, they want to study reparations, study and compensate descendants of slaves for unpaid labor by their ancestors. Jen Psaki, the press spokesman, said. We'll see what happens in the legislative process. I'm curious where you are on this issue. I mean, it's a it's there's a collective guilt that's asking individuals to recompense. I think that's how we would frame that.

Listen, I think reparations has to happen for black people. I mean, because slavery was America's original sin and I really don't think no good is going to come to this country until they atone for their original sin, which was slavery. I mean, my ancestors literally built this country for free. So when you see all of this money being thrown around, you know. Twenty seven trillion dollars in national debt, one point seven trillion dollars for failed and thirty five billion for dog, half a million dollars.

It's like if you're black in this country, you have to be like, what the hell? What's up with us? You know what I mean?

So for me personally, I mean, again, I don't even see what the issue is. The issue is that the collective guilt.

But individual white people are saying, I didn't do it and my ancestors didn't even do it. And you're and you are not your ancestors.

That's that's I'm just saying I'm a descendant of those of those. I know. But listen, when a debt is owed and debt is owed, period, but you've got a lot of money. So you say you should get more.

Should I get more? Well, no, you should get a check. Yes, I'm not. I'm ninety seven percent a West African born in Charleston, South Carolina. So I should I should definitely get a check.

But if if if it's to the point where you know what, you make too much money, we don't think you deserve it. We'll give it to somebody who needs it. But to act like black people in this country don't deserve reparations is absolutely nuts to me. Hey, here's what I want.

You put it like this. Americans just treat black people like the F-35 fighter jets. You had one point seven trillion dollars to throw at that bullshit, throw it at the people who actually built this country. But I don't think anybody but anybody in the future, but again, you didn't build this country, so you personally. So what I'm going to say but I'm saying we're we can't write a check to a ghost, you know, why not?

Why not?

Because, you know, especially when the ghost is descendants are still there to this year. Let me ask you a question. How do you. Right. The wrongs of slavery? Well, I mean, I think reparations come and can come in many forms. Why not? Cash is king America.

No, no, I agree. I mean, I think reparations can come in many forms.

We should be spending much, much more on the schools that serve black children. We should be spending much, much more on the infrastructure in black and predominantly black communities.

We should be doing all sorts of things to close the opportunity gap, which is enormous, in which we've done a terrible job. Closing a debt is owed. And that's one of the ways you repay it. Simple as that I have with the reparations conversation is the questions you were asking a moment ago. It's practically a nonstarter. I mean, in terms of practicality, no one's going to agree on the terms. No one's going to agree exactly on the eligibility criteria.

Nobody's going to agree on the amount. And it's politically very unpopular. And while we're talking about something that I don't think is passable and that's why Obama didn't talk about it, why is it not possible, though?

Why is it not possible to look at public opinion polls?

It's just not going to get done. And that's not about the merits. That's about the appeal out there. And in the meantime, there's so much we can and should be doing that could be called reparations about the debt we owe.

Let's change the name. Call it economic equity packages. Well, I mean, as you said, I would say Obamacare, which helped black and brown people way more than white people. Obviously, all people can sign up for it. But that is the practical effect of it is a form of reparations. You know, I mean, there's a tax that everybody pays. I don't think it's capped. You know, rich people pay more. Those kind of solutions are different.

I mean, listen to what Glenn Lowry says. He says it frames the moral claims African-Americans legitimately have in the wrong way. The idea this debt can be paid is a terrible idea. But here's the thing once again. It's white people not wanting to be held accountable. That's a black person. Well. Oh, OK. Black folk, wasn't it? Glenn Lowery?

You know, Larry, well, I just think that it's a debt that is owed to black people in America. And I'll ask the question, if you don't think it should be cash, what should it be if you. I don't think it should be if there should be any reparations to black people want you to be. All right. So I want to know, do you think that was a good reparations? I think it should be more like what Frank and I are saying different.

Not a check. No, I think it should be done more by class. I mean. Twenty one percent of blacks are below the poverty line. So that means we're giving checks to 80 percent of people who are not in poverty. Shouldn't it better be done if I decide when I was starting to show it that we're going to pass out money, let's pass to start with the poor and disenfranchized you? Absolutely.

And that I'm going to change a life as much as a real investment in education is a real investment in young people's social programs.

I think I mean, I think a debt is owed and I have no problem paying it in cash. I'm just talking about where the money goes to help the most number of people. The quickest. Yeah, I think it should be all of that simply because there is really no price point that you could put on reparations for slavery. Like none I guess. No, no.

You can put all what my ancestors went through in this country. Yeah. All right.

So Joe Biden famously said to you, if you have a problem figuring out whether what everybody asks you, this is not why you're laughing, because you never will stop hearing the individual.

Well, it was it will live in infamy. It will live in infamy. He said. If you have a problem figuring out whether to vote for me or Trump, you ain't black. What do you think about that? I mean, I find that not helpful to to he he's the one, but it doesn't help to say to any group of people, if you don't agree with me, you ain't this you know, this is like if you don't agree with me, then just unfriend me.

Good. Then don't be my friend anymore. Yeah, I think go off. You know what? We don't all have to have one true opinion. Yeah.

I think that's when you're too comfortable, you know what I mean. You saying he was too he was too comfortable and he probably had black people around him who have said that because that was a common sentiment. Right. Like if you vote for Donald Trump, then there's no way you're not black because clearly he's against, you know, black issues. So I think he heard that one too many times and he thought he could get that off and everybody would be like, hey, Joe, we agree with you.

And Trump did better with blacks this time than he did the first time. I don't care. No, I'm just saying not everyone agrees with that and everyone has to. It's true.

But everybody was dying the minute those words left his mouth.

He has a little bit of a brain mouth coordination problem, you know, but I mean, his heart is a different matter. I mean, what's what's what's odd about that quote in retrospect is Joe Biden has become over time such a humble man. I mean, in his presidency thus far as such a portrait in humility, not policy wise, but in terms of the way he behaves. And that's a very arrogant remark to make and out of character.

And I think it was one of those.

Yes, he's a gaffe machine. Yeah. Speaking of speaking of which, I want to bring up Andrew Cuomo, because it's fucking funny.

Why should I lie? It's funny. It's a comedy show. But, you know, he's just a terrible, terrible, terrible way to hit on women. And so this is a terrible time for his book to come out. Governor Cuomo, his big book, Pick Up Lines.

We have a copy right here. Would you like to hear some? Oh, it's it's terrible. It's terrible. For example, do you like pizza? Because I like a pizza.

That is this is just this is terrible at this. Do you come here often or do I have to move your desk closer?

That's not sex with me is like Manhattan construction.

It goes all night long. No. You make my heart race like covid through a New York state nursing home, terrible pick up line. Did you know Long Island was named after my penis was. My brother knows Don Lemon. I admit, I'm no Gavin Newsom. Do you really want to date a governor who's prettier than you and.

It's up to you. So I'm going to say about it this week. All right. So Andrew Cuomo, let me just put it right out there, hanging offense or not, should he go? Yes.

And you want to go first, Frank, huh? Well, I don't think he should resign today or tomorrow or next week because there's an investigation going on. And I believe in this musty, fusty thing called due process. Right.

Well, sorry to cut you off. This is one where I do not need an investigation. Like I've always said on this show, that it's a case by case basis. Some people don't like that because we went to a place in twenty seventeen. It was like always believe women. I said, no, women should always be taken seriously.

And like Al Franken, I'm sorry, but I believe and I don't think he's that guy, Joe Biden, he didn't, he didn't get any kind of due process.

I'm not saying that the Cuomo case is ambiguous. I mean, it does seem that what happened with the young in the 25.

I'm just saying I believe these women being. Well, you know, I don't need to be to investigated it.

Maybe they are, I believe every word they say.

So maybe instead of resignation, instead of resignation, instead instead of impeachment, we put them in a room with a bunch of lecherous women 40 years his senior year, and he tells us how objectified he is interested. Right.

Because it's the it's the epitome of arrogance and privilege for somebody to still be acting like that after the metoo time.

Because I know it's it's like it shouldn't be some type of self correction. Right? All men should have had some type of self correction. And if you didn't have that self correction, it will lead to self-destruction. Right. But in the case of Governor Cuomo, it's kind of hard to ask him resign. Went to your point. You voted for Joe Biden. You know, if you weren't upset with Joe Biden, who had more serious allegations and we didn't know he did, he was accused of actually actual rape.

No, he was talking about the hallway incident, Terry. OK, well, I don't believe that. Oh, OK. Well, that's what I'm saying. I believe some. I don't. That's right. I don't believe her. These women, I believe completely. Well, I don't think Joe Biden is the guy who finger bangs. You always tell me to my point. I'm not saying I believe. I'm not saying I believe her either. I'm just saying he had more serious allegations leveled against him.

And I didn't hear people asking for him to resign and drop out of the race.

He doesn't if you take that out of it, if you take that incident out, I mean, he he denied that a hundred percent again and again. Andrew Cuomo has basically said about the twenty five year old aide.

Yeah, well, it was Joe Biden said when I asked when I asked her if she thought it would be cool to have sex with older men, that was misinterpreted, that Joe Biden said the same thing.

Joe Biden said. From this point on, I'm going to start respecting women's personal space more. But that was a different issue. That's when he was sniffing their hair.

No, seriously, the first allegation was just it wasn't even to me to vote was interpreted that way in the press. It was just he was trying to do an old man thing.

Hey, man, harassment is harassment. No, it's not. I don't think we can tell. No, it's not the difference between sitting here saying something inappropriate. I think sniffing has just as inappropriate as being something. OK, well, it may be, but he was not sniffed your hair, right.

When you think it was weird for laughing at the face sniffing hair, you know, until this sniffing hair, he was just trying to show her encouragement.

She was about to break a what he was she was about to make a speech.

He came up behind her just to be like, you're going to do a good out there, honey, you know?

I mean, it's as well as what I mean, let's let's not pretend we live in this world where all these things are the same.

I agree with that. OK, what I agree with sniffing here, but I just I also I really do wonder how do they pick and choose who they believe? I do wonder who they pick, how do they pick and choose who they think should resign? Who's they? Well, Democrats are just the media.

And I just said it's just individual. It's just what your it's your bullshit meter. What you think is real, certainly based on the character of the person, what you know about them in the past, what what seems logical, what seems rational, what I hate about the Cuomo thing.

Don't lie. You know, don't don't give me this bullshit about I wasn't making advances. Yes, you were.

I was just trying to just be just be real about it. I'm lonely. I'm horny. And I have I mean, there's nothing sadder than a man with no game on my right. Anything. You think he's untouchable? He really thinks he's an untouchable mob boss. Like, I don't care how much grease you put here, Cuomo. You're not.

You're not. And I mean, he's a bully through and through.

He's a bully across every sector of his life. And I mean, I hope we in the media have learned a lesson here about demonizing and defying people. If you remember back, go back and look in March and April when when Cuomo was doing those daily news conferences, there were all sorts of things being written. Could we get Biden off the ticket and this guy in that one? Yes. Yeah, yeah.

That wouldn't have worked out so well. We're wrote one of them myself. Yeah, I wrote it saying that in a while. Let's get Cuomo in there for. Yes. And boy, look how the tables have turned. Yeah. You go from a hero to public enemy No. One, just DFI people too quickly, and we demonize the toast of the town to toast. My dad would always say, you're never as good as they say you are and you never as bad as they say.

You just stay right there in that middle. Everything will be fine. OK, so. There are some people who don't like when I talk about this next subject, but I'm sorry, I can't listen to 24/7 media talking about covid death. Five hundred thousand constant updates on how many people have died. And it is a life and death issue without talking about obesity and the fact that the media and the forces of the world want to me is just an example of their tremendous cowardice in the face of the how dare you remind me I'm fat lobby, but this is just too important an issue not to talk about.

This is The Washington Post. This week, the vast majority of coronavirus deaths occurred in nations with high levels of obesity. 88 percent of deaths were in countries or more than half of the population is overweight, 40. When he when Trump left his first press conference, he said, you know, thank God the wicked witch is dead. He said, let the science speak, but this is the science and he never speaks about it. Isn't he never talks about how we have to be invested in our own health?

Yeah, it's what's the most crucial thing to your outcome? I think that's what they mean when they the underlying condition, right? Yes. They people instead of just dealing with underlying conditions, are they just say underlying conditions. That's all I got. I mean, I'm not going to be on to Twitter tomorrow, would you get in the tech bubble? I don't know.

I mean, obese people, you know, at least that's honest. I lose like the one that I admire that I just go I'm just not going there. OK, I'll be there.

I'll be the guy to the to the extent that there's a reluctance to talk about obesity as an underlying condition, I don't think that's about being irresponsible of science. I think that's about trying to recognize that for many, many years. And what am I saying to this day?

People who are overweight are shamed in this country and they're and they're struggling with it. They're not just kind of grabbing bag after bag of Fritos with abandon and not caring. It is a tough I know whereof I speak. It is a tough, tough thing to lose weight, to keep weight off. And so I think when we shy away from talking too much about obesity is an underlying condition. I think we're trying to be big hearted and generous and understand that humans are imperfect and people really do struggle with this and don't want to be demonized for it.

But this is life and death. I mean, it's a mirror. Yes, I agree.

Not shaming, not making fun. I've done things about this issue on the face. It never did cheap fat jokes with it. But to not bring it up, to not do not ever go there. I also read last week that. Liver disease through the roof because people are at home drinking, yeah, they don't mention that either. It's not just obesity, it's just anything that has to do with your own personal health, taking care of your own self internally.

This battle has to be won two ways. Yes, you have masks and social distancing and vaccines. That's the external but never a word about the internal. We're really you have the better chance of winning the game. And it's not like this country promotes healthy living. I mean, you know how many times. That's right. How many times do you turn on the TV and see, you know, a commercial for, you know, something healthy as opposed to a commercial for some type of fast food or even some type of alcohol.

And you live in certain people live in these communities, you know, mostly black and brown people where they are food deserts where they don't have access to healthy food. That's something we should put money into. One hundred percent.

And that instead of and we fourteen hundred dollars to grandma with thirty five fucking fighter jet. Right. Nobody talking about the failed strategy. I talked about the last twenty one point seven trillion. I mentioned it last week right here.

I mean people you can feed healthfully when one point seven dollars billion.

No, I think I think you I think if you just go back to the Obama administration, I think you will find many efforts to put money into healthy living and you'll find a vegetable garden at the White House. That was that was meant to be a lesson for the country. And then we had for four years a president who thought KFC fat and poor health food.

Right. A as president, you've got to call it what it is. I don't expect a fight as president. I don't shame people, but I'm just saying you can't it's always OK. It's OK. It's OK to shame them when the Republicans I can make as many fat jokes about Chris Christie and Trump all day long. And that's cool.

I will shame Donald. That's always cool.

I will shame Donald Trump for his stupidity, for his mendacity and for complete morality.

Not because we're not shaming. We're not saying, oh, I thought it was an adjective, you fat ass Trump. He's right. Exactly. So probably the last thing I'll get you. But CocaCola, last week they were put out of diversity training thing, asking their employees to be less white. And the first thing I thought was, well, let's kind of turn around fair play, because I've certainly heard a lot of African-Americans talk about how, like in the office, they had to be less black.

O.J. Simpson said it famously. He was like, you know, when I go on the air, I have to talk white. And, you know, I have to comport myself in a different way. I have to live in two different worlds. So it's not, like, unprecedented to ask a certain group of people to be less of what you are.

Right.

But is this the way of the future or is this revenge? Is it justified revenge? Is it justice? And also how? I don't even know. I don't know how to be less white.

What do I I, I dance better. I mean, when they say be less white, I don't I really don't think I practically know how to do it. Well, we live in a country that, you know, that's that's that's full of white supremacy that we know we know that the people are racist. We know that people are bigoted. I think some people sometimes have a lot of unconscious biases, right. When you're white or pink and not just white.

And I think, you know, asking somebody to be less white is just to say, yo, man, use your privilege to combat the prejudice that exists within this workplace. Like if you're if you're a white man, white woman, use a privilege, use your privilege that you have to combat the prejudice against black people. If you are a man, use your privilege that you have to combat, you know, sexism against women. If you're a straight man, usually it's great privilege to combat the prejudice that exists against the LGBTQ community.

That's all I think they're asking you to do me. The goal is righteous, but I don't think that language gets us there. I think that language is counterproductive because I don't know either what less white means. I know what it means to be more sensitive. I know what it means to be less hasty in my judgments, less bigoted. And I strive to be all those things. I don't know what it means to be less white because you're white.

But I'm black and I'm black. I know exactly what it means when they say you'll be less white. Like, I totally, totally understand it when they tell somebody to be less white because I have been dealing with white people my whole life. And I don't even think sometimes white people understand the privilege and the power that they possess in this country. I really don't especially, you know, the white males. And that's why I think now a lot of older white males think they're being targeted when the truth is just being held accountable.

And when you have so much privilege and so much power and you're not being you're not used to being held accountable, you think fairness is oppression.

I just want you to treat us fair. That's it. But now that we're asking you how to treat us like, oh, I'm a victim now, I feel oppressed and I feel marginalized, like, no, we just want fairness.

That's also just like to point out Coca-Cola is not good for obesity or that is.

I know. Almost like you guys. They're all we have to admit that now that we've gotten these results for the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, it's hard to ignore that things are looking up.

It's nice to see a positive test results that are as happy to see me as I am to see that. Someone must tell Hasbro, who just announced they're dropping the Mr. and Mr. Potato Head to be more gender neutral, that not having genitals is gender neutral enough.

Very, very true. And before you say this whole thing sounds completely insane, know this, that sales are through the roof at Toys R, they.

Someone has to tell Erica Farmer, who has been accused of not only stealing her neighbor's goat, but painting it, if you don't want people to think you're guilty, try wiping that look off your face that says I'll steal your fucking goat and paint it to. There are now that Paris Hilton has a podcast. Someone has to find one person in America who saw Paris struggle to get out of a limo with the poodle in one hand and a Cosmo and the other and said, I wonder what she's thinking.

Since America's broken health care system charges people thousands of dollars to take an ambulance. Should compete with its own emergency service Oberlin's.

It's the same as a regular Uber accepters, bandaids and gauze in the glove compartment, and the driver promises not to talk about his screenplay while you're bleeding out.

And finally, new rule, it's time to raise awareness about a very serious problem, raising awareness, we raise too much of it and it's and it's making us crazy, anxious and depressed.

Must we be sad about everything all the time, most of which we can't do anything about the ribbons, the flags, the ads, the hashtags. It's like that person on the plane in the next seat. It won't take a hint that you don't want to talk.

Please, I just want to look out the window as the engine explodes. And since it's award season tonight, I'd like to introduce this ribbon to raise awareness for the growing epidemic of raising awareness.

In March alone, we are marking World Glaucoma Week, National Poison Prevention Week, International HPV Awareness Day and World Down Syndrome Day marches, also National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, Brain Injury Awareness Month and Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month and National Deep Vein Thrombosis Awareness Month. That's the month of March for you, it comes in like a brain injury and goes out like deep vein thrombosis. Oh, and lest I forget, this Monday kicks off World Salt Awareness Week, a whole week to be aware of salt.

I thought we were is there someone out there thinking, why do restaurants always put the cocaine right next to the pepper?

We're so aware 24/7 of every bad thing that could possibly happen that we've completely run out of colors, purple is now the color for Alzheimer's, lupus, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, whatever that word is, and the opioid crisis.

I used to like that color. Now it scares the shit out of me.

Everything you can buy now comes in a pink version to raise awareness of breast cancer, including a pink drillbit for fracking, which is probably giving us cancer.

Staple's. Staples sells pink breast cancer awareness, pens, paper clips, scissors, even a pink stapler shaped like a ribbon walking the aisles, there's like a visit to the cancer museum. Am I a terrible person? Because I'd like to buy office supplies without needing a drink afterward. Football players with pink shoes.

Look, let me go on record and say I'm against breast cancer, but I'm trying to escape for a few hours. Can I just watch the game without thinking about cancer? We've all heard about it.

It's like it's like raising awareness for death. Hey, what's that black ribbon for death. What's that? It's when you're not alive anymore. Would you like to hear more?

Budweiser pulled their ads from this year's Super Bowl and donate the money to raise awareness about covid, which I'm pretty aware of. Hey, Budweiser, you weren't put on Earth to raise my awareness.

You were put on Earth to lower it. Humans need to zone out sometimes. That's why marijuana is popular. It's not a privilege to take a break from everyone else's problems, it's an imperative not every ad on TV needs to chastise me for not doing enough because I'm sitting around watching TV. I can't even watch the price is right without thinking about cutting my dog's balls off. Four crew members on the major airlines now where Black Lives Matter pens during the flight, you know, you can support a movement without being constantly reminded of it.

Can I just get a rum and coke and hold the white guilt trip till we land?

Must we use every available platform as an issue? Billboard, clothing, commercial, social media, sporting events, award shows milk. I feel like this all started with milk. Someone in the 80s looked at a milk carton and said, what a waste. Not using milk as a vehicle for missing children to plead with you to put down the shredded wheat and get out there and crack my cold case.

Look, I don't have a lab where I can cure cancer, I'm not a P. And that's the part about this stuff that bugs me, it's not actually doing something that ribbon isn't there to make me think so much as to raise awareness of what a good person you are. This is to activism, but putting a flag on your car is to patriotism. So in April, please, won't you join me for a chill the fuck out month?

All right. That's our show. I want to thank Frank Bruni, Charlamagne La God and Joe Scarborough. We'll see you next week. Thank you, folks. You were great. Catch all new episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher every Friday night at 10:00 or watch him any time on HBO. On demand for more information, log on to HBO Dotcom.