← Club Random with Bill Maher
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- [00:00]
Bill Maher
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- [02:21]
John Fetterman
I've had to vote against my caucus alone.
- [02:25]
Bill Maher
I mean, somehow you're the suspect Democrat, the guy in the hoodie.
- [02:29]
John Fetterman
Club Random. Coming up on the fourth anniversary of when I died from that stroke.
- [02:35]
Bill Maher
Your health is good.
- [02:36]
John Fetterman
Never better.
- [02:37]
Bill Maher
Physically, mentally, everything.
- [02:38]
John Fetterman
Club Random.
- [02:41]
Bill Maher
How you doing?
- [02:42]
John Fetterman
Hi. There he is. Hi.
- [02:45]
Bill Maher
How are you, big man? Yeah, thank you for seating because I know if you stood, you'd tower over me. I'd look like a shrimp. Yeah, I see you wore your good shorts. Were you making a speech on the senate floor?
- [02:58]
John Fetterman
Yeah, no, I mean, true story, though. I was never trying to change any dress code. Like, you know, Schumer was just trying to be kind, assuming that it was referencing me. And then I found out, I'm like, oh, my God, everyone's going to think I was, like, trying. I'm like, no, I.
- [03:15]
Bill Maher
Well, maybe you weren't trying, but when you show up like that in a place like the Senate, people are going to notice.
- [03:24]
John Fetterman
Yeah. Yeah. It never really occurred to me how strange that must seem.
- [03:29]
Bill Maher
Well, to me, that story always illustrated the big problem. Of course, I think we both agree that goes on in this country, which is everything is. Becomes a political battle. Everything is just an excuse to say your team is stupid and my team is great. It has nothing to do with anything. You know what it's like to me, the ballroom, Trump's ballroom.
- [04:01]
John Fetterman
You think, can we talk about that? It's like, who gives? I don't give a fuck about this. It's like, yes, you need. I mean, you've been there. I'm sure you'd seen, like, they have these tents and it's crazy. And. And like now I was a table away when that assassination. Oh, you were. And it just. I'm like, I was stunned just walking in. You have the entire line of succession right there. And could you just imagine, I mean, you. We all remember Oklahoma Bomb, right?
- [04:32]
Bill Maher
Yes.
- [04:32]
John Fetterman
They could have had someone, you know, in a room up there, boom. And you could have decapitated the, you know, our nation just in one thing with a couple thousand dollars dynamite and thing.
- [04:46]
Bill Maher
And again, you can be, as we do, opposing Trump on everything that's important. But if you are a person out there who just hates the ballroom, that is a Rorschach test on you that you. You go by the. If I hate this person, then I just have to hate everything they do.
- [05:10]
John Fetterman
Yeah.
- [05:11]
Bill Maher
And it's silly because this is the United States of America. We do need a place to have state dinners. You know what it is, John? It's the term. It's the word. Ballroom. It's a funny word. It connotes like some sort of gallivanting around an 18th century fops with powdered wig. A ballroom, if they called it, we're putting an estate dinner pavilion.
- [05:37]
John Fetterman
Yeah, absolutely. And from a security issue, too. Now, as drone technology continue to evolve, it creates it even more dangerous. And the thing, like, by the time we will be forced to vote on that, and then I'll be like, do I vote no? Because, oh, yeah, we have to hate that shit. But we can't just acknowledge. Yeah, we should have a facility to accommodate these kinds of events. And you know, I followed your story. How, how long it took you to build your structure. Right. I mean, this thing won't even be finished by the time he's done.
- [06:17]
Bill Maher
Right.
- [06:18]
John Fetterman
And, and this idea. He's not going to build Dave and Busters. I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's just going to be a ballroom.
- [06:27]
Bill Maher
Are they going to make you vote on this?
- [06:30]
John Fetterman
I mean, because it's publicly funded regardless at this point. What, whatever's damage done already because I haven't described it as disgusting or terrible. And if you use private money, that's terrible. If you use public money, well, that's outrageous. And now meanwhile, the money is like
- [06:50]
Bill Maher
one Angstrom unit of a percentage point of what our budget is. So it doesn't matter anyway. It's couch money.
- [06:59]
John Fetterman
In my race in 22 was spent $330 million. That was the record at that time. That's quaint compared to 24. And watch the cycle. This year, Senate, Senate seats are going to be spending much more than just that to build a legacy structure for, for the White House. And that's only going to be used from presidents that are not going to be him.
- [07:27]
Bill Maher
And 330 million. That is about what a ballroom costs.
- [07:31]
John Fetterman
Yeah, exactly. That's the thing.
- [07:33]
Bill Maher
You can either have a senator or a ballroom. No offense, I'll take the ballroom. The ballroom has a purpose. A lot of the senators you work with do not.
- [07:43]
John Fetterman
No, I said that's the tds, this thing. You know, I said that in one where if he, if he came out for ice cream and lazy Sundays, we would fucking hate it.
- [07:54]
Bill Maher
You know, and the other, we, the other side does it too. But I don't care about them so much. I would like the Democrats. I mean, we're both always on the same page here. We just. People attack us because they think we're picking fights with the left. We're not picking fights. We just don't like, let it pass if we think something is stupid.
- [08:20]
John Fetterman
Yeah. Do you have to have a fucking opinion on everything? I mean, like we all, we all have platforms and we all have a personal bandwidth. You have to choose what's your. And I don't chase these small, like weird things because it has no impact on the overall. You know, but people, you know, they become just constant, constant.
- [08:45]
Bill Maher
Right. They have to be at war. My advice to them, I did this as a bit one night because every time I've tried to learn Meditation, which I'm not very good at. Maybe you are. You know, it's a big thing. People, very respectable people, like Sam Harris is a big meditation person. People I respect a lot say it's very helpful for you. And they always describe it as, you know, meditating, clearing your mind. And we all have a million thoughts that are coming into our mind, and they say, well, just let them pass like a cloud. Your thoughts will come. Just let them pass like. And I feel like this is what you have to do with Donald Trump. Go after the stuff that matters. The politicization of the Justice Department, the threatening of election. I mean, all the stuff. And the stuff that, like, ballroom stuff, that's the cloud. It's just. It doesn't matter. And if you chase it, it's so much more about you than him at that point.
- [09:49]
John Fetterman
It's constantly like a churn. And the thing that, you know, today, the most outrageous thing, the world's on fire. And then by Wednesday, we've moved on to something completely different. And that's the next. It's the next kind of crisis. And the conversation is increasingly driven by people that represent very blue, you know, the anti. The resistance, whatever you want to call it, people that have never won, like an actual election that, you know, you have to be in front of both kinds of people and make the argument and just realize that there is another side. And they're all not fascists, they're not Nazis, they're not trying to destroy. They love the country just as much as you do and finding a way forward. And that's the reality. That's the essence of democracy. And when you represent a state like Pennsylvania, that's a responsibility. And, you know, it's easy. And even you can be jealous where it must be nice just to yell to the.
- [10:49]
Bill Maher
Oh, it is lovely to sit in the peanut gallery. Yes, peanut gallery is. The peanut gallery now is like one of those fancy theaters now. The seats go back and they have a thing for your food to put in. And, oh, it's very exclusive. It's like 25 bucks a ticket. But I think it's worth it because otherwise the peanuts, you're just sitting on peanut shells.
- [11:11]
John Fetterman
And now we're, you know, the Democratic Party. We can't resist our worst impulses. As things continue to accelerate, we keep trying to get ahead of California. You know, like, we, you know, as a national party, we can't get ahead of California of these kinds of policies and these kinds of thoughts of what we think it should be. If you believe in Medicare for everyone. Why don't we have it here in California? Why don't we have it in other blue states that could have do anything that they want to do? And there's a lot of realities. So, you know, why, why can't we just slow down and realize call balls, call strikes and remember all of our excess that really cost us in 2024, we will revisit a lot of the things and add $100 million behind that. And that people will finally remind that, oh, yeah, they, they do have kinds of things that aren't compatible with my worldview.
- [12:10]
Bill Maher
I had our governor on Friday night.
- [12:13]
John Fetterman
Oh, yeah.
- [12:15]
Bill Maher
Okay. So you'll appreciate this. So, you know, they always. News people write about the show over the weekend. And I see in the California Post, which is the New York Post now that we have it out here.
- [12:30]
John Fetterman
Yeah, I really do.
- [12:31]
Bill Maher
Yeah, I do, too. It's great to have somebody to keep the other side honest. I mean, some of it is trashy. That's fine. I enjoy some trash.
- [12:39]
John Fetterman
I.
- [12:39]
Bill Maher
And it's too reflexively anti Democratic, but it's fun. And yes, there's also some actual very credible writing in there from the right, which is okay. But I see they're talking about my interview with Newsom. And it's. Well, Bill kept his feet to the fire. And Bill said when he started to talk about California, Bill said, you really think people are feeling that? As he was bragging about the stuff in the state. So it looked like I was the hero there. Then I read the next day, Trump tweeted that I was too.
- [13:15]
John Fetterman
Oh, yeah.
- [13:16]
Bill Maher
Too easy on him. And so the story in the same paper is like, ah, well, he just let Newsom off the hook. Wait a day ago. They just don't care. They don't care what the truth is. They go, what's going to sell the paper today or be interesting today? You can't even take it seriously.
- [13:37]
John Fetterman
I mean, since I was here, have you seen the. What's this? Spencer Pratt's his last commercial that AI about. He's Batman. You have to see it because he has this AI commercial as Batman and it put Mayor Bass as the Joker and they put Newsom as, you know, like Louis the 14th eating cake. And I'm telling you now, like, you know, whatever happens in this election, you know, any other election, I guarantee they are, you know, like, it put him just like French, you know, eating cake. And, you know, you should check it
- [14:20]
Bill Maher
out, because I will. Obviously this is all from AI and. But he. So he made it with AI but ran it as a real campaign ad. He's not denouncing it.
- [14:32]
John Fetterman
Well, consider the other side, the Democratic sides. Their commercials are literally Fuck Trump.
- [14:39]
Bill Maher
Right?
- [14:39]
John Fetterman
Yeah. It just keeps cutting different people saying, fuck Trump. And I'm like, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, you're gonna love that in a purple state. Try to win a national argument and by announcing, you know, the party's leader and your voters, you know, like, well, that's your platform.
- [15:00]
Bill Maher
Yeah, it's. First of all, he can't be president again. That doesn't mean he won't try. But even for people who didn't vote for him, that doesn't appeal to me that this is the smartest thing you can say, really.
- [15:19]
John Fetterman
So, you know, look, I mean, honestly, I was never worried that he was gonna run for three terms. I mean, he's like the master troll. I mean, he must love just Trump 28, throwing out the hats, and it's just meth. And then if he does try to run for a third term, that means that makes Obama eligible. And then, you know, isn't America really wanting that, to finally settle that anyway, who actually wins? Cause I don't know, but that's just not gonna happen.
- [15:50]
Bill Maher
But, yeah, but I mean, first of all, he could do it. I mean, when I talked to him, he did. And I've heard him say it in other occasions, but he did say vaguely, you know, there's a way you could do it. And I remember saying to him, no, there's not a way you could do it. And again, this is what they got mad at me for reporting, honestly, that in private, when you talk to him like that, he doesn't get upset when he said, there's a way you could do it. And I just said, blatantly friendly again, because when you're on. When you're. The claws are down. And I just said, there's actually not a way you could do it. He just laughed. You know, it wasn't like. And then Dr. Jekyll goes away and Mr. Hyde comes out, who has to, like, call everybody out on everything and be completely DEFCON won about everything. I mean, this obsession he seems to have lately with. I was so nervous at the White House that I had to have a drink right away. It's like what a check says about you when she's pissed off and you break up. You know, like, he did this, he did that. No, I didn't do any of that. Did I have a drink before dinner? Yes, as people often do, have a drink before dinner. Was it immediately? Of Course not. Was I nervous?
- [17:12]
John Fetterman
No.
- [17:13]
Bill Maher
Partly because, again, he wasn't.
- [17:16]
John Fetterman
Well, you were taking on the spectacle. Right. I mean, and, I mean, you and I, you know, we were in a unique situation together. You know, he invited me to have dinner with him in Mar a Lago in January of 2025. And I took a lot of shit for that. Like, you know, I'm like, he invited. Why wouldn't, as a senator, you know, have an opportunity to meet with him? And, you know, and you did the same thing. And, like, why is that?
- [17:45]
Bill Maher
And he does listen in private.
- [17:47]
John Fetterman
Yeah, he does. I couldn't believe it.
- [17:49]
Bill Maher
I keep saying to these people, these morons, he needs more people like us talking to him, not less. And he's willing to do it. It's the people on the far left who are like, how dare you talk to Hitler? How dare you talk to Hitler, McPedophile. You know, and if you characterize someone that way, of course there are people like the nut who was at the dinner you just mentioned, who are going to take that seriously. Now, that happens on the other side, too. Rhetoric does cause action. Absolutely. But, I mean, what was that like? I mean, you said you were a couple of feet away from. You ever had one of those problems that sound simple until you're three hours in and questioning your life? Well, when that happens, why don't you check out Claude from Anthropic to help out? Claude is the AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. It's the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and thinks with you. Whether you're debugging code at midnight or strategizing your next business move. Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter. It doesn't just give you a quick answer. You actually work with it. And instead of rushing to show a conclusion, it slows things down in a useful way. It pulls in research from a ridiculous number of sources and will connect dots you don't even think to do, the kind of deep dive you tell yourself you'll do someday, and then don't. We connected Claude into our Google workspace. Docs sheets, the usual chaos, and suddenly it had context. Not guesses, actual context. And with cowork, you can send tasks from your phone and let it run in the background. We've literally set things up, walked away, and come back to finished reports, real spreadsheets, formulas, formatting, the whole deal. They've even got Claude code handling big refactors and tedious dev stuff without wrecking your style, which, if you've Ever worked with engineers you know, is basically a miracle. Ready to have an AI that can tackle real work? Try Claude cowork today. Claude Aiclubrandom this episode is sponsored by ZipRecruiter. Hiring someone qualified can be hard, but what's even harder is finding someone actually excited about the job. And if you're hiring, you want a candidate who's passionate about your role. But you can't get that insight from a resume unless you post your job on ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter's matching technology actually finds qualified candidates quickly. And now they've got a feature that shows you the most interested, qualified people first. So instead of digging through a pile of meh, you're seeing the people who want to be there, not the people who are desperately trying to make eyes at last call. And candidates can even tell you in their own words why they're interested. Which means you get personality, not just bullet points, and creative uses of the words like symbiosis and synergy. Find candidates who really want your job on ZipRecruiter. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com random that's ZipRecruiter.com random meet your match on ZipRecruiter.
- [21:27]
John Fetterman
Yeah, well, it's like, you know, when you were, you were describing your experience on your show, like you've, you've seen that, that, that meme from Leo. Like me, like, I was like. Yeah, that's the thing. Like gracious and measured, whatever that's a term used. That's, that's his, you know, in a personal level, and it's a much, much dramatically different the public face compared to when you're there. And he, you know, we hung out for 75 minutes where I wondered if it was gonna be 10 minutes, kind of like, hi, bye and whatever.
- [21:59]
Bill Maher
No, no, he gives the time.
- [22:01]
John Fetterman
Yeah. And that's. It was.
- [22:05]
Bill Maher
Yeah.
- [22:05]
John Fetterman
Yeah.
- [22:06]
Bill Maher
Well, another thing I keep saying is he's not home reading the briefing books, and he's a people, a saying guy, so be one of the people saying it's the only way he gets information is through dialogue.
- [22:23]
John Fetterman
Oh, yeah, okay.
- [22:24]
Bill Maher
That's just the truth. I'm not even putting him down. Although a president should definitely read the briefing books. But that's the world we're living in. We're with one who doesn't so, like, conform to that a little bit. It doesn't make you somehow unpure makes you practical and smart.
- [22:43]
John Fetterman
Well, like, it's. It's funny. Like, he was giving, like, a speech at. At some place in, I think, Florida. And he's like. You start talking about Dr. Oz, he's like, look, he's like, Dr. Oz, I don't care about that Medicaid thing. I don't care. Just do something. Yeah, like, he just looks like. Like, just absolutely said that aloud. And, like, that's that reference, that preference where it's like the. The briefs and all that stuff. Like, I don't care, Dr. Oz. I don't just do whatever.
- [23:11]
Bill Maher
I mean, the things that he says aloud, the way he just voices his interior monologue. There is something not exactly psychologically normal about someone who just vomits their interior monologue, but it gives him a authenticity with people that no one else can possibly match. I saw his interview with Nora o' Donnell after the shooting, like, the next day, and she quotes the assassin who called him a pedophile Hitler or whatever he called. I mean, you know, could any of the things be true? Yes, anything could be true. But, like, to just go right to. It's the ballroom syndrome again. Let's just go right to the worst thing, because we hate this guy. And that pissed him off a lot. I could see both sides as a reporter. It is news. Also, it's giving access to the president from the terrorist. I would say that's terrorism. Assassination. Nut. You're giving his message. Okay, you could make a case for either one. But his reaction immediately was, to her, you're a terrible person. And he didn't just think it like any politician. That's exactly what they're thinking. He just says it like, if that's what's in his head, you're a horrible person. You're a terrible. You're a disgrace. You're a horrible person. And he just. And it's like. It's at the same time horrifying and also, like, it's kind of, like, refreshing. It's shockingly the honesty. As someone who loves honesty and has made my career about it as much as I could, it is. There's some level of it where you tip your hat and you go, wow, total honesty.
- [25:05]
John Fetterman
I think you're a horrible person.
- [25:07]
Bill Maher
And I'm just gonna say it.
- [25:09]
John Fetterman
The ultimate. The quiet piggy. Yeah, that's the president of America.
- [25:17]
Bill Maher
No, that's a quiet piggy.
- [25:19]
John Fetterman
That's why I. I mean, it's like, all you can do is just, you
- [25:22]
Bill Maher
know, like, I don't get mad when he Sends out these tweets anymore about me. It's like, because the next day I feel like it's forgotten. Yeah.
- [25:30]
John Fetterman
I don't know. A long time ago. Yeah.
- [25:33]
Bill Maher
I don't know if even he remembers, but I know he's working very hard to get you. Isn't he trying now to get you to become a Republican?
- [25:42]
John Fetterman
I mean, I absolutely had to actively participate in an election that I absolutely knew that we'd go down, you know, like after the assassination. People have absolutely forgotten the difference between Zapruda or Butler is half an inch. And that would have been that and how horrific it is. That horrific.
- [26:10]
Bill Maher
Yes.
- [26:10]
John Fetterman
Yeah. And I can't imagine the shape of our country if he has been. Oh, yeah. Like, I can't imagine. Thank God. Thank God for a lot of reasons why that was unsuccessful. And people forgot that, I think in my views. And then after, when you, when Anderson Cooper asked Harris, you know, so you think he's a fascist? Yeah, I do, I do. And that means people that, well, if he's a fascist, that must mean, you know, I must be a fascist too. And if, you know and love a lot of people that have voted for him, I know they aren't fascist. And you kind of, you.
- [26:52]
Bill Maher
I mean, there are things the Trump administration has done that resemble what fascist governments do. That doesn't make him a fascist. I said 10 years ago, before he won the first time, I thought this was a slow moving coup in the sense that he was never going to voluntarily give up power. And he still really didn't. I mean, he still is upset about the 2020 election, which is an insane thing to do if you then won the 2024 election. Because, okay, this is the third act and you know, the hero rises and of course he goes down in the second act and then he comes back in the third act. He doesn't then, you know, relitigate the second act because you've already avenged it by becoming president again. But he's still obsessed with it.
- [27:54]
John Fetterman
One of the reasons why I was, I was eager to have a sit down where I'm like, I was marvel. I marveled at the most incredible political turnaround ever after January 6th, after impeached twice and all the trials. Yeah, the trials and everything. And to win every swing state and the popular vote, the absolute kinds of reversal. And it's like crazy. And that's why there's some things that they do I just don't understand. And what you possible at that point and what you may choose to do, you know, I made that decision. I'm like, well, I'm going to agree with some things that I happen to agree, you know, and the things that I don't agree, you know, and like, I never voted for the big beautiful bill and those things. I've never voted for these kind of signature things that I think it isn't the right thing for the country, but I absolutely support the things that they've done.
- [29:03]
Bill Maher
Well, I think you vote with the Democrats 93% of the time. I mean, it's hysterical to me that the Democratic Party, which You vote with 93% of the time, because I feel like I get the same shit from the same kind of people. It just, I'm so glad that there's a number to put with it, because Even when you're 93% with them, their attitude is so bad. They have such a bad attitude of you either have the one true opinion, which we, the geniuses of the far left know, or you're just somebody at
- [29:40]
John Fetterman
least suspect in a state that 52% agree Trump should be president and, you know, the guy that represents them. And, you know, 93% time. And if I know you're not a believer in marriage, but if you married to someone and you agree 93% of the time, that's probably be a pretty great marriage. And I'm mystified by. And what's also on the other side, I've had Republican friends, you know, in office say they're like, you know, our internals. You're more popular with our people than we are. How. And I don't understand that either. You know, when I vote 93% like a damn lion, and I'm more popular with Republicans, I can't explain it. I truly don't. And I find myself in a strange place.
- [30:31]
Bill Maher
When are you up for reelection? 28.
- [30:33]
John Fetterman
28.
- [30:34]
Bill Maher
Oh.
- [30:35]
John Fetterman
And, you know, like the things that were really important to me, that was, and I think you are largely agree with the circumstances in Israel after 107 and the Gaza war and the prime minister and how that migrated into Midnight Hammer and of course the Iranian war. And you don't have the kinds of energy and outrage on the left after Iran just massacred 30 or 40,000 of its young people and now are actively now torturing, beating and hanging teenagers right now, executing these people. No outrage. And that's really, maybe that's part of the fracture in my party, and that's probably how I explain.
- [31:29]
Bill Maher
And those outrages that you speak about, those atrocities, those are only the outrageous new visible ones. What about the everyday atrocity that was living under the Iranian regime. Now, you know, people compare it to the Iraq war. In some ways it is. In some ways it isn't. Iraq and Iran are quite different countries, Sunni and Shiite one. I'm sorry, but just way more sophisticated than the other. And that would be Iran. Iran under the Shah, Yes. He was a dictator also, but it was a fairly Western country. It's a very sophisticated population.
- [32:14]
John Fetterman
Have you seen the pictures? I looked through a catalog of pictures of the Iranian society in the 70s, you know, before the. It's Western.
- [32:25]
Bill Maher
Yes.
- [32:26]
John Fetterman
And women are able to dress effectively the same way. And it's so radical. That's the society. And when I spend time here in la, I constantly encounter members of the Iranian community and they are all. They're, they're once supportive of my views.
- [32:44]
Bill Maher
Right.
- [32:44]
John Fetterman
And they all understand how awful the Iranian regime is and, and how evil. And they want, you know, you and I. Free Palestine. No, where's the, where's the protest? Free Iran. Free Iran. Why can't we have a free Iran? You know, like, where. Why does that come from? And that is absolutely.
- [33:05]
Bill Maher
But what are we going to do about it now that it has devolved into this stalemate? I mean, just yesterday, first. Well, first they announced the war part is over. We were on to Project Freedom, which is just about opening the strait. And that lasted like an hour and they stopped doing that because I think what Trump fears a lot right now is he doesn't want one of our boats to get sunk.
- [33:34]
John Fetterman
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
- [33:35]
Bill Maher
And that could happen.
- [33:36]
John Fetterman
Like, like, if you. If, if it has to be a perfect war in terms of that. People have forgot, like, the brutality and, and real loss for that and then that. I think that's what the. That's what defines that. You know, I was so nervous and just following that so closely about rescuing the pilot, you know, that would have turned the entire energy of that, if the Iranians would have got to them.
- [34:04]
Bill Maher
Yes.
- [34:04]
John Fetterman
And can you imagine, I mean, they're making Lego videos for propaganda. Can you imagine if they had an American pilot?
- [34:12]
Bill Maher
I can, because I saw Owen Wilson in Behind Enemy Lines.
- [34:16]
John Fetterman
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah.
- [34:17]
Bill Maher
That is. That exact movement.
- [34:19]
John Fetterman
And that's. I think that's part of the energy. But I think what's accomplished with EPIC was very important and it's astonishing to what they've able to do. But overall, right now, it would be a huge, huge look, if you don't walk away now without requiring them to produce their nuclear material.
- [34:43]
Bill Maher
I don't know how, you know, I don't know how you can force them because they've kind of shown we can take your best punch. And let's be honest, the things that, the reason why you and I both supported this war as a thing to be done, none of those objectives have been achieved. It's not a different regime. It may in fact be a worse regime because now the Revolutionary Guard probably is in command directly as opposed to having the moolahs above them. Wink, wink. But they were really in command. But whatever it is, it's not the people we want. Who took over the protest from the people rising? Didn't happen. I've been saying that's because they missed their window. They should have attacked Iran while the people were in the streets. They let the people get slaughtered in the streets. Oh, yeah, and that's probably the top echelon of the people who you want to be in the streets. The bravest ones. They killed them all.
- [35:41]
John Fetterman
What's so disappointing to me is where is the global nation community, you know, demanding Iran at this point? You know, it's like this idea like this. Every Democrat, you can't ever let them build a bomb. You know, and here we're, we're here at the cusp. When would you ever have that opportunity to do. And so if now the Democratic Party and a lot of the media has trained the Iranian regime, it's like, we just have to hang on one more day, one more day. We have to. Because eventually people will lose their focus and just give up. And that's, I think that's the tragedy right now.
- [36:24]
Bill Maher
How do you. I mean, again, the objectives, the people didn't rise up. The regime isn't changed. We don't have the nuclear weapons 100% secured. And then the Strait of Hormuz, which wasn't even on the table before the war, it should have been as an issue. So we lost the three things we wanted and gained one fourth one we didn't want. Yeah, we knocked out some of their, most of their military stuff. Okay, that's all to the good. But how do you actually get this Nuclear dust, he calls it, whatever it is. We probably knocked out some of it with the bomb back in July, the big bunker buster bomb. But we don't know. Apparently we probably didn't because we're doing this. We don't know unless we are actually in that mountain. And how do you get in that mountain? They have a million man army. That hasn't been talked about a lot, but they do have an army. So if you're going to look at that mountain and what's in it. Somehow you're going to have to secure that area. Which means, I think you're going to have to fight this Million Man Army. And you don't want that, right? Well, the truth is, deciding to get help is hard enough. The last thing anyone needs is to spend hours fighting with insurance websites, wait lists and intake forms that make applying for a mortgage seem breezy. Well, that's why there's Rula. Rula is such a smart option. They make it easy to connect with licensed therapists and psychiatrists who actually take your insurance. Patients typically paying around 15 bucks per session. $15? In this economy? That's less than that salad bowl you get for lunch. And this isn't some random list of names. Rula works with over 23,000 carefully vetted providers nationwide so you can find someone who actually fits what you need, whether it's therapy, medication management, or both. What really stands out is that they stay with you through the process. They help with scheduling, follow up, and keeping track of whether your care is actually helping. Imagine that a healthcare company interested in whether the healthcare actually works. And if you've been putting it off because it feels like too much, appointments may be available as soon as tomorrow. Which means the hardest part might just be finally saying yes. This mental health awareness month. Don't just think about your mental health. Actually take the step to take care of it. Visit rula.comrandom to get started. That's R U L A dot com random. You deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget.
- [39:19]
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- [39:47]
Bill Maher
Amazon presents Jeff versus taco truck salsa. Whether it's verde roja or the orange one. For Jeff, trying any salsa is like playing Russian roulette with a flamethrower. Luckily, Jeff saved with Amazon and stocked up on antacids, ginger tea and. And milk. Habanero. More like habanero. Yes. Save the everyday with Amazon.
- [40:18]
John Fetterman
Well, what I. What I am. What I'm saying is, is, is that, you know, where are we at right now, remember back two years ago in 2024, and Sinwar was alive and the majority of the hostages work at the underground, and our party was demanding for a ceasefire. Ceasefire, ceasefire. And what, what Israel realized that, you know, we have to break and destroy Hamas and we have to. We have to break and do the same for Hezbollah. And they've done that. And then they knew. They all understand history. A country can't fight two wars on two. Two fronts at the same time. So after they neutralize those two, they able to go after Iran. And then everything changed with Midnight Hammer, and they were able to significantly damage their nuclear facilities. Now, if there was a ceasefire, and now where would Iran's nuclear bomb be right now, you know, two years after that, if there was that ceasefire that we all demanded, and where would Hezbollah. Hezbollah would have hundreds of thousands of rockets able to fire on will. Yeah. And things that we would never tolerate in our nation. You know, I had a room as Israeli politicians. I'm like, you know, have you ever been in your bomb shelter in your home? Everyone hand goes up. And I'm like, yeah, well. And now Democrats are voting against supporting the Iron Dome and those purely defensive things for Israel. And that's the betrayal. And that's heartbreaking to me. These were our core values. And that's part of this fracturing. And maybe that's why I've lost support in part of the Democratic Party.
- [42:03]
Bill Maher
Me, too. I mean, we're exactly the same way on this. We're really walking hand in hand because we get shit about it. And if there's one issue, I mean, this whole big issue of Israel, the Middle East, Islamophobia, this whole. Cause they're all connected. If there's one issue. Which makes me say to the far left, stop asking me why I make fun of the left more than I used to. This is it. This is why. Because you're morally goofy. You're ignorant. You don't know history. You don't know the present either. Just when you put it on that level where you just said, would you. I like to do it to that. Because people don't know the history. They don't know the facts. They. So you kind of have to just make it on that level for them. And I did it once. There was a liberal woman who was sitting here and she was arguing about
- [42:55]
John Fetterman
how horrible I saw that. Where it's like, where would you live? Tel Aviv, Right? Yeah, yeah.
- [43:00]
Bill Maher
If you had to live somewhere in the Middle East. And it was just a lot of, like, trying to scream over me. Like, whatever she could do to not answer the question. And finally did have to say yes. Tel Aviv. I mean.
- [43:12]
John Fetterman
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- [43:13]
Bill Maher
Yeah.
- [43:13]
John Fetterman
That's the percentage. I mean, ask any ISIS bride, you know, how's the life? You know? You know, ISIS bride. Ask it, you know, like, Australia, Australia now has finally agreed to repatriate, you know, these ISIS brides, you know, these women in Australia realized, oh, my gosh, that must be the caliphate, you know, living that life. And, you know, ask any of them, ask any of them just the concept
- [43:43]
Bill Maher
of an ISIS bride, which is basically a sex slave, but when your husband isn't fucking you, you have to wear the fucking beekeeper suit so nobody else can even look at you. And these are the women who would be like, how horrible the manosphere is. They don't respect women at all. Let me go join someone who will put me in a tarp all day and cover me like I'm a motorboat engine. I mean, they are so morally goofy and liars. You know, they put that whole thing out for the longest time about how Israel was starving the Palestinian people. You know, that was part of the thing in Gaza. Part of their. Yes, people were starving. Because Hamas stole all the food.
- [44:29]
John Fetterman
Exactly.
- [44:29]
Bill Maher
Because Hamas wants the people to die. That is. First of all, they love being martyrs. Let's just not gloss over that. That's part of the whole religion dominated culture. Martyrdom is good. They have words for it. That's why they strapped bombs to children. Okay, so again, you're morally goofy if this is the team you want to be on. And Israel didn't starve them. First of all, no other nation on earth at war would ever be even asked to feed their enemy. Yeah, okay, so. But Israel always has to play by a different set of rules. Okay, so they're gonna feed their enemy. They tried. The food was stolen by the same people who, by the way, had an enormous bomb shelter. The whole country was a bomb shelter. It was their tunnels. But they wouldn't let the people in them.
- [45:28]
John Fetterman
Yeah, yeah, and they would use the hospitals, they would use the schools, they would use that civilian facilities for the attacks. You know, Sinwar described Palestinians as necessary sacrifices. You know, that's the plan. It's like they don't care how many Palestinians were killed. And that's part of the problem. Or that's part of the problem too. Having to engage in a war that doesn't care because how many civilians suffer? They don't care. In fact, they celebrated.
- [46:02]
Bill Maher
In fact, and I know you have your Problems, John. But I live here in Hollywood. I have to live amongst people, most of whom who think it's cool to wear the kefia to the Oscars and to say, you know, free Palestine. As if Palestine would be liberated by living under Hamas. By the way, Israel geniuses educated on TikTok or was liberated in 2005 by Israel. Israel gave it back and said, here, you have your land again. You do something with it. And this is what they did with it.
- [46:44]
John Fetterman
Yeah.
- [46:44]
Bill Maher
I mean, they made it into a fortress. Didn't spend it on the people or turning it into any sort of. It could have been Dubai.
- [46:52]
John Fetterman
I agree. I sat with Bill Clinton. We were campaigning in Arizona, and I was like, hey, thanks for your work. And Clinton, he reminds. It's like, yeah, we offered them 96% of the west bank and East Jerusalem was the capital. You know, here you go. For 25 years. They could have rebuilding that into Dubai or whatever that they want. They did not want a two state solution. Their one state solution. You know, as you always point out, like from the river. See what's in there. Exactly.
- [47:25]
Bill Maher
Just look at a map. We know where the river is.
- [47:27]
John Fetterman
Look at the map. Look at the.
- [47:29]
Bill Maher
As if these kids know what a map is or would know how to look at it. Yeah. They don't. Again, it's especially frustrating out here because people out here, they're actors, so they just want a cause. They want to do something about free Palestine.
- [47:45]
John Fetterman
Identify.
- [47:45]
Bill Maher
But that's as far as they've looked into it. They don't look past the buzzwords. They're talented, they're not bright.
- [47:53]
John Fetterman
Name the one pro Israel band that played at Coachella. You know, they started. They started their. Their set. You know, Israel or whatever, it does not exist. But there's constant kinds of.
- [48:07]
Bill Maher
Right.
- [48:07]
John Fetterman
Yeah.
- [48:08]
Bill Maher
Oh, there's a. There's an Irish.
- [48:10]
John Fetterman
Yeah. Those assholes. Kneecap or whatever.
- [48:13]
Bill Maher
Right?
- [48:14]
John Fetterman
Yeah.
- [48:14]
Bill Maher
And they. They even went to Cuba. As if Cuba hasn't.
- [48:17]
John Fetterman
Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah.
- [48:18]
Bill Maher
As if Cuba hasn't suffered enough. Yeah. And the Irish rap group.
- [48:21]
John Fetterman
Yeah. In 1300 sunglasses walking around like the communist paradise.
- [48:29]
Bill Maher
That's right.
- [48:30]
John Fetterman
Yeah.
- [48:31]
Bill Maher
Was that Code Pink? Who did that?
- [48:32]
John Fetterman
Yeah. Like, yeah, yeah. Code Pink and all these.
- [48:36]
Bill Maher
Okay. But here's the backstory. We did the move in Venezuela, which has. Look, that one, you have to say, worked pretty good.
- [48:46]
John Fetterman
Yeah. Well, remember, people lost their shit over Venezuela. No one talks about Venezuela anymore. And that's my point. No people also. I'm sorry, let me say this, that, you know, we're not talking about Gaza anymore. And people forgot, like, yeah, we, you know, ended the Gaza war. Brought everyone back home as well, too. And this idea that, what is the freak out of the day? You know, we're not talking about these things. We've all moved on. And I guarantee by the time this drops, there will be one or two more that, you know, part of this conversation.
- [49:24]
Bill Maher
Yeah, but Venezuela was. Look, I mean, when it does come up in conversation, it usually comes up now when people say, and this could be true, they say, well, Trump saw how well Venezuela worked. He thought he could do it in Iran.
- [49:38]
John Fetterman
Yeah.
- [49:38]
Bill Maher
Maybe that affected his thinking somewhat. Iran is not Venezuela. Okay. I mean, you know, Barzini is not Tartaglia. Sorry, it's gonna be a lot harder. But Venezuela kind of worked. I mean, nobody died on our side. It was very clean. The idea in that country where you could get rid of this really bad dictator and bring in somebody who wasn't from the opposition exactly, but someone who was like, okay, you know what? That guy was kind of an asshole. Let's work together. That's a great plan.
- [50:15]
John Fetterman
As opposed to Joe Biden put 25 big stack stacks on. On him, you know, in January, before he left the office, he put a $25 million, you know, bounty on it.
- [50:27]
Bill Maher
Really?
- [50:28]
John Fetterman
Yes. You can. You can verify that. And it's like, essentially, that's like, you know, some hitman. There's 25 million for you. Yeah. You know, so we did it, in a way. And now they, you know, we have him. He's going to be on trial in public, held accountable for the atrocities that he committed against his nation.
- [50:48]
Bill Maher
Right.
- [50:48]
John Fetterman
And that's why I said, why is that a bad thing?
- [50:51]
Bill Maher
It's not a bad thing. And the bank shot off of Venezuela was Cuba.
- [50:56]
John Fetterman
Yeah.
- [50:56]
Bill Maher
Because Cuba is propped up a lot by Venezuela. They're very close. In fact, all of it's all interconnected. All of Madero's security guard were Cubans. Obviously, they didn't do so good, but Cuba needs the Venezuelan oil. So, yes, Cuba is starving now for oil, and we're doing that to them, but we're doing it because we want to have a regime change there. And so Code Pink and Jeremy Corbyn, the usual suspects. I think little Greta was on that trip, or if she wasn't, she certainly was supportive of it. She was probably involved with some other cause du jour. But they went to Cuba in support of the regime. This is what is so insane about the far left. And why are we so stupid, John, that we are criticized that Is why? Because they're stupid. Because they go to Cuba in support of the regime which has done nothing but make. I know people have been to Cuba. If you think, you know poverty in America, you have no idea what poverty is.
- [52:01]
John Fetterman
Exactly.
- [52:01]
Bill Maher
And that's been going on for 67 years. It didn't just start when we took away their oil.
- [52:08]
John Fetterman
Exactly. And those people that visit there, do they know that they're useful idiots, you know, or they are that clueless that they're absolutely. You are backing a regime that's trapped this entire nation in extreme poverty and misery. And we are there. Like, they're so great down here.
- [52:30]
Bill Maher
Because Cuba could again, be another. Like Gaza. It could be. Instead of Gaza, could be Dubai and Cuba could be Saint Barts. It could.
- [52:42]
John Fetterman
Or anything.
- [52:44]
Bill Maher
It's Cuba. It's in the Caribbean. And it's just been this nightmare for the better part of a century now. And yeah, we're trying to do something about that. And here's the best. The kicker of this story. They're in Cuba, like you say, these assholes in their 1300 dollars designer glasses going down to support the people. They're staying, like in the one hotel that's a luxury hotel that while the people have no electricity, everything they're doing is air conditioned. The bus, they cosplay, sort of going into a field with the farmers, I think, for a minute. And you know what they visited while they were in Cuba, like sightseeing on the whirlwind tour. They went to the North Korean embassy and one of them tweeted out our solidarity with North Korea for being two regimes that are against us violence. The level of stupidity of these kids, that they know one thing. This country, America, is the worst one that's ever been. We have done nothing. But that's really how they've been indoctrinated aside. The fact that it's terrible for our national security. It's just wrong. It's just stupid. You're stupid. You're factually wrong. This country has done bad things like every country has. On a relative scale. We've actually been way better.
- [54:12]
John Fetterman
Instead of staying at a luxury hotel, live with a real family that lives under this terrible regime for a month. And will you still defend this regime if you spent a month living in extreme kind of deprivation like that? Of course. Of course not. You know, you get choppered in, stay at a luxury hotel, you know, like, this is great. And then we're out. I mean, it's. It's just. And that's the frustration. But these Are they. Are the people that. The emerging. You know, that's our new class of mascots for our party. And now many of the people that are running for the Senate are campaigning with these kinds of people.
- [54:56]
Bill Maher
Well, I mean, just the word communism, or being called a communist not that long ago was a dirty word, as it should be. We did try it. Communism all over the world. It's. It's all. It's a nightmare. But it's not a dirty word anymore on the left,
- [55:20]
John Fetterman
you know. You know, Platner in Maine absolutely identified himself as a communist.
- [55:24]
Bill Maher
Right. And so does Mondami's main lieutenant, that Sia Weaver in New York, head of the movement to get the rents fixated or whatever.
- [55:39]
John Fetterman
You know, she says home ownership is racist and it's white supremacy.
- [55:45]
Bill Maher
She's also tweeted out elect more communist.
- [55:48]
John Fetterman
Yeah, we want to impoverish, you know, white middle, middle, middle income families. It's part of. As part of the extreme. And that's what I'm saying. Like, it's ironic in my cycle that the Republicans try to spend tens of millions of dollars to convince people that I was a socialist, you know, and now I'm accused of gone Maga after voting 93% Democrat. But communism, now, that's not. It's qualifying.
- [56:15]
Bill Maher
Yeah. It's not that anybody's gone maga, it's that you're gone Gaga. You're fucking nuts. You're crazy. You'd say crazy shit. Like, I mean, the woman we're talking about. All home ownership is racist in a country where 20 million black people own homes. You know, queers are.
- [56:40]
John Fetterman
When your mother.
- [56:41]
Bill Maher
So self contradictory.
- [56:43]
John Fetterman
Yeah. Their mother has a $2 million home in like Tennessee or whatever. And it's just Kamala, you know what?
- [56:51]
Bill Maher
Kamala Harris just.
- [56:53]
John Fetterman
No, I'm referencing that. Like Mandami's house czar.
- [56:57]
Bill Maher
Yeah.
- [56:58]
John Fetterman
But I did read that she purchased. Yeah. A $9 million home in Malibu, and she should.
- [57:04]
Bill Maher
That's fine. This is America.
- [57:06]
John Fetterman
I agree. No judgment.
- [57:08]
Bill Maher
Yeah, she's got a big baller house in Malibu. I mean, you can't get less sort of you real person kind of. I mean, somehow you're the suspect Democrat, the guy in the sweatshirt and the hoodie who lives like he always did, you know, regular guy, Pittsburgh Steeler fan. Da da da da da da. I could go on. But she's the one who more represents. Well, if you think that more represents. And again, she good for you to have a $9 million house, but to think that that represents that working class that the Democratic Party is trying to win back. I mean, I don't know, it just,
- [57:50]
John Fetterman
it doesn't look, talk to any traditional union, traditional guys. They're all, all, all gone from the Democratic Party. Really. That's, you know, that started 10 years ago during the Trump first, first race. And 100%, all those traditional, you know, the regular, regular dudes and those kind of people, you know, they're, they're not, they're not coming back. And that's that in part why, you know, we have a second term of Trump.
- [58:23]
Bill Maher
I think that, and I would say the first term is because around then I think there was a lot of talk about how well, you know, the Republican Party, they seem to do well in these races and we had Bush and blah, blah, blah, and they have Mitch McConnell. Look what he did. He fucked up the Supreme Court thing. Yes, he did. But you know what? Their days are numbered because this is a country that is getting more and more diverse, which is a great thing all the time. And Trump looked around and went, yeah, I still see a lot of white people. You know what? That is true. But I see white people. He was like the kid in the Sixth sense, except not dead white. I see white people and he did, and they still exist. And they're mostly not racist, but they do have their own concerns. And there's a big difference between being not racist and willing to turn your life over to the cause of anti racism, which is what the far left wants. I think the best way to be an anti racist is to be a decent human being to all people. But that's very passe. That's, that's Democrat. Classic John. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, that's what we are. We're classic.
- [59:39]
John Fetterman
You know, I, I've, I've, I followed you for, you know, watch for your values haven't changed, you know, your views haven't. And I say this on the same thing where it's like, no, I haven't, you know, like, I mean, and that's what's so exasperating, where I'm like, no, we're fine.
- [59:58]
Bill Maher
It's so much better to be sane. No matter how much a certain faction hates you for it, lots of other people love us for it. So it's not like we're not getting a good trade off. But also it's just, you just sleep better at night knowing, no, I'm not one of these sheep who won't say the emperor has no clothes. It's a real emperor has no clothes thing. You know, when it's when you see somebody with Queers for Palestine shirt and you, and you just pretend that that's not a thing, that that's not so stupid. Okay, you can do that. But you are an emperor, no clothes person. There you are saying the emperor has no clothes. And I mean. No, I mean, I am, I mean, you're saying the emperor does have clothes, Right? I'm the kid who says the emperor has no clothes because the emperor doesn't have any clothes. In that scenario and many others, I mean, I could list a dozen things where the left finds a way to work their way back to what they're trying to stop, you know, like defunding the police.
- [61:03]
John Fetterman
Yeah, we're right back there, you know, we're like, you know, fuck ice. Abolish ice. We are back. We can't resist our worst impulses that brought. That summoned, that summoned a second term with Trump, you know, and now we
- [61:20]
Bill Maher
are back there and backlash like ice.
- [61:23]
John Fetterman
Yeah, exactly. We are living in the backlash of this. And we are, what, 15 months into his term? That's four years. Can you imagine what's going to happen in the next two months, six months, you know, a year from now? I mean, do you think it's going to get going in one direction, more extreme? And there are, you know, there are no experts at this point because we are in unprecedented kinds of times. You know, I've had to vote against my caucus alone through two, two government shutdowns. The, you know, historic, long, record breaking. You know, we used to be, we used to be the party that would refuse to shut down our government, you know. You know, we used to, last year we used to scold Tuberville in Alabama for jamming up promotions. And now we've shut the whole, the whole government down. We've shut the whole thing down and over health care.
- [62:21]
Bill Maher
So you're a guy who's known to have friends on the other side of the aisle, which I think is so important that we don't do that much anymore. It's like, I don't sit with those kids in the lunchroom, but like somebody like. You mentioned him, Tommy Tuberville, he was a football coach.
- [62:40]
John Fetterman
Yeah. I mean, he did that stand about, I think it was like abortion in parts of the military for some weird thing. And it jammed up, you know, promotions and it was punishing innocent people. And we shut the entire government down for 44 days and plunged people into chaos. SNAP. 42 million Americans depend on snap. All of that stuff influx, you know. Well, we're doing this for health care. There was no health care. There was no developments. We've all moved on. We're not talking about that anymore. And then the second shutdown was about, we have to punish ice. But we all knew that because of the big beautiful bill that I did not vote for, had unlimited money. And yet we still, we have to shut it down because the base demands that. And I was the only Democrat. I'm not going to shut down our DHS to punish ICE because. And that what's happened? Zero. Zero reforms on ICE that I wanted to see as well, too. Zero reforms, nothing. We walked away empty pockets, just like in the first one, because they were both driven by the outrage of the base. And that's another reason why I'm at odds with part of the party. And I don't know, these were our values. We must never shut our government down. But now we're doing the same things.
- [64:03]
Bill Maher
Well, you ask what we're going to be doing in two, six, eight months, I have no idea. I know that the political landscape will change a lot. What doesn't seem to change is my life.
- [64:19]
John Fetterman
Trump makes anything possible on our side too. You know, the extremism has mutated, you know, the genome here of like, who knows what's possible, how it's going to continue to mutate and the extreme things now, you know, our part, I'm the party that calls, calls them as Nazis, you know, but except for the guy that has an actual Nazi tattoo, we won't call him a Nazi.
- [64:45]
Bill Maher
I don't hold that against him. That to me is the kind of gotcha thing that people play games with. I think it's a red herring if anything. He's way too far left. I don't think he's a Nazi. I think he got a tattoo when he was a teenager or something. He says he doesn't know what it was. Even if he didn't, you know what it's like. You can't hold people responsible for what they did. As a teenager, I think he was a teenager.
- [65:13]
John Fetterman
Well, but except that, you know, he was caught lurking online and praising Hamas snuff film of them killing and torturing Israeli soldiers to death. I dig it. You know, I mean, he thinks he absolutely, absolutely praised Hamas, what they've done in that. So.
- [65:33]
Bill Maher
See, I see that as a leftist thing.
- [65:36]
John Fetterman
Yeah. I mean, yeah, well, but my point, though, and that doesn't. This is this idea though, you know, all cops are bastards. You know, he's claimed that.
- [65:49]
Bill Maher
Okay, that. See, I'm still getting educated on Him. I know that he said all cops right away because.
- [65:56]
John Fetterman
And all rural people are racist and stupid. These are. I'm not insulting him. I'm just reflecting the things that he has proudly said online. And it's not a gotcha thing. It's just what's. That's who he is. And he's the guy that ran away from the primary, and he's going to
- [66:14]
Bill Maher
be the senator in Maine because. Because the only person he was running against on the Democratic side dropped.
- [66:21]
John Fetterman
Correct.
- [66:21]
Bill Maher
Correct.
- [66:22]
John Fetterman
Yeah.
- [66:22]
Bill Maher
And so.
- [66:23]
John Fetterman
And there will be unlimited money there. And. And that's made possible because, you know, I don't think that's authentic. I think that's just someone that has extreme views and that's just. How is that qualifying of being part of this?
- [66:44]
Bill Maher
Well, I would say that the two wings of the party that we keep talking about, there's talk to Trump. Fuck Trump. Those are the two wings.
- [66:54]
John Fetterman
Well, no, to be clear.
- [66:55]
Bill Maher
Right.
- [66:55]
John Fetterman
I mean, it's like, here we are now. It's like, I don't care if you build a ballroom. That's bad. That's bad. Punishing. You know, you've said I'm a communist or all cops are bastards. Abolish ice and all that other stuff. We're okay with that kind of thing agreeing. Like, I don't care. Build a ballroom. That we do need that. That's. That's damaging. But all these other extreme things seems. Seems pretty good to me.
- [67:20]
Bill Maher
Yeah. You know, you seem like you're upbeat. I mean, you look good, you look healthy.
- [67:26]
John Fetterman
Oh, I have. I felt so good. Just be. I'm gonna just agree or vote for things that I think happen to be true. And it just. I sleep better, I feel better. I don't carry this.
- [67:41]
Bill Maher
Yeah.
- [67:41]
John Fetterman
You know, a career isn't worth anything. If I had spent that lying. I know what pays the bills as a Democrat right now. Fuck Trump. Literally. And just agreeing to do things that we would never do, those kind of things. And I've always refused to turn my back on the Jewish community and Israel because that's what history demonstrates. That's consistently going to happen.
- [68:04]
Bill Maher
The best thing about being honest is that you don't have to keep your lies in order. You know, you don't.
- [68:11]
John Fetterman
Yeah.
- [68:11]
Bill Maher
Yeah. You don't have to remember lies, you know, and that's priceless.
- [68:19]
John Fetterman
Maybe that's a version of Bull. Bullworth or whatever, but I'm just. That's what I've decided to do.
- [68:24]
Bill Maher
But your health is good because obviously, never.
- [68:28]
John Fetterman
Never better.
- [68:29]
Bill Maher
Never better in every Way physically, mentally, everything.
- [68:33]
John Fetterman
What?
- [68:33]
Bill Maher
Physically, mentally, everything?
- [68:35]
John Fetterman
Yeah, yeah.
- [68:35]
Bill Maher
You think all of that is behind you?
- [68:37]
John Fetterman
Yeah, I, I just, I just had the checkout, actually, before I came out to the West Coast. Yeah. And, you know, checked out, you know. Absolutely. And I, I'm a. I'm, I'm the luckiest guy alive. I mean, I'm coming up on, you know, when this, when this drops. That would be essentially the fourth anniversary of when I died from that stroke.
- [68:59]
Bill Maher
Right.
- [68:59]
John Fetterman
And that was touch and go at that time. And I never thought I. Four years later, I'd be sitting in a chair talking to a guy that I always. And I could have been dead or I could have been.
- [69:16]
Bill Maher
So when you have a stroke, are you supposed to take aspirin? I'm asking for a friend.
- [69:21]
John Fetterman
No, Well, I take a medical version of it, but yeah, it's called Eliquis, and that's a blood thinner to make sure that doesn't happen. And then also what really brought to that was I suffer from afib. And that's kind of like a silent thing. And that damaged the heart in a way. And the stress of everything about that campaign, it all just converged. And that's when I was, I knew I felt terrible at that point and I was going to just finish out the primary and then I was going to immediately get checked out because. And the mistake was three days before the election, that's when the stroke hit.
- [70:04]
Bill Maher
Do you have anxiety about.
- [70:07]
John Fetterman
Not anymore.
- [70:08]
Bill Maher
About it. About the. No. About whatever upcoming election. The kind of. Because once you go into an election season, whoever your opponent is, even the people on your own team in a primary, but then certainly the Republican are going to say the worst sort of things about you.
- [70:27]
John Fetterman
I mean, I've lived through that. I've already been dead once, you know, like, there's nothing like it's.
- [70:33]
Bill Maher
You don't care what they say about it.
- [70:34]
John Fetterman
It's very liberating in that way. And what I'm saying, like, there's no real stress compared to whether if you're a soldier in IDF or, you know, in our military, or you have families, you know, with a lot of these ability to feed themselves and all that thing compared to where I'm at, you know, there's, you know, just freeing to just. I happen to believe this is true. This is where I think the Democratic Party should exist in that way. And, you know, I'm tired of hearing lectures that, well, we need to be a big tent party. But except for this guy, you know, like, why?
- [71:16]
Bill Maher
It's just Common sense.
- [71:19]
John Fetterman
Having the courage to, you know that. Having the courage to just be honest about these kinds of circumstances. And I think, I think that's what. What America, you know, really wants, except in the extreme kinds of spaces. But they have the largest and the loudest voices and, and they, and they rule in the primary parts and that. And you know, eliminate, eliminate this idea of primarying because. And you just make it seem open primaries and people will be accountable on both sides on the things that you say and the things that you vote and the things you say.
- [71:57]
Bill Maher
All right, John. Well, I know I have a special treat this week. So I get to see you on Friday. Also, you came in and for us at the last minute. I really appreciate that.
- [72:08]
John Fetterman
Oh, hey, well, I mean, that's a treat.
- [72:11]
Bill Maher
I was glad when I get to have my audience get to see you and see what you have to say because again, people like us, we gotta fight for the megaphone. I mean it is the crazier people who get. I feel like more of the coverage. So, you know, I sure hope you run in 28 and you know, I just hope you're on the scene a long time because I don't have a lot of allies, but you are one of my allies.
- [72:39]
John Fetterman
Well, I've been described as the lonely Democrat, but I feel a little less Democrat as a Democrat, you know, watching, watching your shows and your views because it's like, hey, a guy that. With our values haven't changed and the things have mutated in this.
- [72:52]
Bill Maher
And believe me, I'm sure you hear it too. We don't see a lot of it in the press because the press is kind of captured by either fringe on either side. But I'm sure you have a life like mine. Wherever you go, people come up to
- [73:06]
John Fetterman
you all the time, all the time
- [73:09]
Bill Maher
to try to tell you, please do what you keep doing because you're one of the few people I, you know, that means the world to me anyway. You mean a lot to me too.
- [73:19]
John Fetterman
It's always a push.
- [73:19]
Bill Maher
Bow. I'm glad you came by and saw my little crazy get up here and club.
- [73:25]
John Fetterman
Random.
- [73:26]
Bill Maher
Random. You saw this? The insults that he signed when I went to the White House.
- [73:32]
John Fetterman
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [73:33]
Bill Maher
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- [73:54]
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