Ep. #718: John Mellencamp, Chris Christie, Chrystia Freeland

Summary

Podcast Summary: Real Time with Bill Maher

Episode #718: John Mellencamp, Chris Christie, Chrystia Freeland
Date: February 7, 2026
Host: Bill Maher
Guests: John Mellencamp (musician), Chris Christie (former New Jersey Governor), Chrystia Freeland (former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister)

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher" blends edgy comedic commentary on current events with in-depth conversations on culture, politics, and music. Bill Maher is joined first by rock legend John Mellencamp for an honest talk about aging, fame, authenticity, and the creative process. The panel featuring Chris Christie and Chrystia Freeland tackles the freshly exposed Jeffrey Epstein files, celebrity activism, Indigenous land rights, and Donald Trump’s recent statements about election interference. The show closes with Maher's trademark "New Rules" segment, this week centered on the explosion of gambling in American culture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Super Bowl, Halftime Shows, and Cultural Division

Timestamps: 02:08–05:54

• Bill Maher lampoons America's obsession with the Super Bowl halftime show, noting partisan divides even in entertainment.
• Jokes about alternative MAGA halftime featuring Kid Rock as a response to Bad Bunny performing at the main event.
• Observations on the politicization of entertainment and growing culture wars:
  "Imagine being so offended at a Puerto Rican singing for 15 minutes that you created an alternative halftime show." (Bill Maher, 02:51)

2. Trump, Racism, and Social Media Outrage

Timestamps: 03:51–05:54

• Maher references a Trump scandal involving sharing a racist meme about the Obamas.
• Mocking the administration’s clumsy defense and ongoing "fake outrage" accusations.
• Commentary on the normalization of offensive behavior in politics.

3. Epstein Files: Power, Abuse, & Hypocrisy

Timestamps: 05:57–34:21

• New details emerging from the Epstein investigation—surveillance footage and damning emails implicating influential figures.
• Maher sharply critiques the powerful who lied about their involvement with Epstein:
  "It's like Epstein Island is Hooters, and the entire power structure of the world is saying, 'Yeah, I was just there for the wings.'" (Maher, 07:00)
• Discusses rumors about Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and others caught in the scandal.
• Panel Reaction:
  • Chrystia Freeland: Emphasizes that at its core, the story is about the abuse of vulnerable girls by powerful men and the necessity of feminism (24:04).

    "We need to stand up for girls and young women." (Freeland, 24:04)

  • Chris Christie: Talks about the responsibility of fathers to support their daughters’ self-worth (26:08) and highlights the pervasive entitlement and arrogance among elites.
  • Maher connects QAnon’s conspiracy theories to the real facts, admitting,

    "QAnon, you are more right about this than I admitted ... but Democrats don't eat babies." (Maher, 28:08)

  • Disillusionment with public figures: Chomsky, Deepak Chopra, and Peter Attia’s emails show hypocrisy.

    "They're not nice guys... they're fakes, is what they are." (Christie, 32:08)

  • Freeland and Maher agree that performative outrage and making this behavior unacceptable is key.

4. John Mellencamp: The Man Behind the Music

Timestamps: 10:03–22:16

• Mellencamp reminisces with Maher on his career, his original "Johnny Cougar" stage name, and resisting record label pressures.
  • "They gave you that name [Cougar] without even asking?" (Maher, 13:41)
  • "Here's my choices, Bill. You can either go back to Indiana, or you can be Johnny Cougar." (Mellencamp, 13:47)
• The story behind "Jack and Diane":
  • Originally, Jack was black, but the record company insisted on changing that (16:27). Mellencamp candidly admits,

    "I didn't like it, and I actually didn't even want to put it on the record after that happened." (Mellencamp, 16:49)

• Creative process and songwriting:
  • Mellencamp downplays his own intelligence but describes songs "just come to you", often while painting (18:44).

    "I don't try to control the songs... I don't know what half the songs I've written are about." (Mellencamp, 18:44)

• Discussion about hits, memory, aging, and the upcoming tour featuring his extensive catalog.

5. Celebrity Activism & Indigenous Land Debates

Timestamps: 36:36–45:03

• Maher rails against celebrity political pronouncements, especially at the Grammys (e.g., Billie Eilish on “no illegals on stolen land”).
  • "Then don't say anything because you don't know things." (Maher, 37:22)
• Chrystia Freeland explains Canada’s treaty-based relationship with Indigenous peoples and the practical focus on Indigenous prosperity over symbolic virtue signaling (39:02–41:23).
  • "If you care about the plight of Indigenous people, then work to create economic conditions so they can prosper." (Freeland, 41:16)
• The group debates the performative nature of much progressive activism and the need for real solutions, not just rhetoric.

6. Trump and GOP "Taking Over Elections"

Timestamps: 45:05–48:16

• Maher highlights Trump’s suggestion that Republicans should “take over” elections in states he lost, viewing this as a new phase in his ongoing "slow-moving coup" narrative.
• Christie, with legal and political expertise, clarifies how elections are structured, rejects Trump's authoritarian implications, and laments how these statements undermine faith in democracy.
  • "This is all about his ego... what it does in the process ... it makes people in the country think our elections aren't on the level." (Christie, 47:29)

7. "New Rules": Gambling in America

Timestamps: 48:28–59:16

• Maher’s closing monologue traces the history of gambling in America, comedically riffing on its normalization and the cultural shift towards betting on everything.
• Critique of gambling as both vice and coping mechanism in a declining economy, and a deeper point about agency:
  • "Gambling isn't just bad because you lose the rent. It's bad because it gives permission to stop believing that you control your destiny. But this is still America. And you still do." (Maher, 58:29)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Epstein scandal:

  • "If there's a guy who has a lot of money and you don't know where the money comes from, he's a pimp." (Maher, 27:00)
  • "QAnon, you are more right about this than I admitted or lots of other people admitted." (Maher, 28:01)

• On songwriting authenticity:

  • "I'm not that smart... I don't try to control the songs ... they just come to you." (Mellencamp, 18:44)

• On celebrity hypocrisy:

  • "They're not nice guys... they're fakes, is what they are." (Chris Christie, 32:08)

• On virtue signaling and real change:

  • "Virtue signaling is yucky. People hate it ... If you care about the plight of Indigenous people, then work to create economic conditions so they can prosper." (Chrystia Freeland, 41:16)

• On Trump’s elections rhetoric:

  • "This is all about his ego ... it makes people in the country think our elections aren't on the level." (Chris Christie, 47:29)

• On gambling and American agency:

  • "Gambling isn’t just bad because you lose the rent. It’s bad because it gives permission to stop believing that you control your destiny. But this is still America. And you still do." (Maher, 58:29)

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Key Timestamps

• 02:08 – Super Bowl and culture wars
• 03:51 – Trump meme scandal
• 05:57 – Epstein files blow up
• 10:03 – John Mellencamp interview begins
• 16:27 – "Jack and Diane" origin
• 18:44 – Mellencamp on songwriting
• 23:41 – Panel discussion: Epstein
• 29:20 – Freeland & Christie on impact for daughters
• 36:36 – Celebrities, the Grammys, and virtue signaling
• 39:02 – Indigenous rights debate
• 45:05 – Trump and GOP elections takeover
• 48:28 – New Rules (gambling focus)
• 58:29 – Closing Maher point on destiny

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Tone and Style

The episode delivers Maher’s signature blend of satirical humor, biting critique, and candid exchange between guests of divergent backgrounds. Serious topics like abuse of power, political manipulation, and societal hypocrisy are leavened with irreverence, wit, and occasional self-deprecation—especially evident in the friendly banter with Mellencamp and self-aware jokes about liberal pieties.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Show

This episode covers the continuing impact and revelations of the Epstein files scandal, the sometimes absurd world of celebrity activism, and the persistent threat Trump poses to democratic norms. The conversations are raw but balanced by Mellencamp’s stories of music industry battles and the closing, sharply funny reflection on how American attitudes toward gambling mirror deeper cultural anxieties. The guests’ candidness and Maher’s probing questions keep the discussion fast-moving, relevant, and engaging.

Transcript

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[John Mellencamp]

How you doing?

[Bill Maher]

Thank you so much. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We got a great show. Sit down and I'll tell you all about it. Okay? All right. I appreciate that. Oh, thank you so much going on. I'm glad you're putting on a brave face.

I know it's an exciting time because the super bowl is Sunday. No one's talking about the game. It's all about the fucking halftime show. Am I right? Because it's bad. Yeah. This is how divided this country is. Unbelievable. We can't even have a halftime show we agree on. Really? Because Bad Bunny's doing the real one at the Super Bowl. But then Maga Nation's putting on their own alternative one. Kid Rock is going to perform all his greatest hits and then shoot a case of Stella Artois just because.

Just because it sounds gay, but.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, Bad Bunny no bueno with that Trump crowd. I mean, imagine being so offended at a Puerto rican singing for 15 minutes that you created an alternative halftime show. Man, it's a good thing that the only people in the world who are snowflakes are liberals, huh?

But it is.

It's kind of that time of year on the calendar where there's something every, you know, weekend. There's the super bowl, and we got Valentine's Day coming up. We had Groundhog Day. That was Tuesday. Great news. Well, for some people because they did see a shadow. So more snow. So great news for the ski resorts. Terrible news for Chapel Ron's tits.

So, yeah, a lot.

Oh, and it's also Black History Month to get.

To get things.

To get things kicked off. The Trump administration today called for a moment of indifference. No, they did something much worse. Trump did a Roseanne, did you see this? And shared a video of black people, you know, superimposed as apes and the people were the Obamas. I'm not going to show it because I don't want to give it any oxygen. But the defense I thought from the administration was rather lame. They said he did not mean to hit share. He meant to hit like. Carolyn Levitt. You know, she's a very loyal press spokesman. Very loyal. She said he was. The president was just reposting a meme of him as the king of the jungle with Democrats as characters from the Lion King, as world leaders do. Of course.

Of course.

There's two things a little wrong with this. One, there are no apes in the Lion King. And two, if it's a cartoon character, it's okay. That's a rule now. If it's a cartoon, it's okay to do anything. So it's okay. If somebody made a cartoon of Elmer Fudd shooting Charlie Kirk, that would be okay. You fucking hypocrites. You know, and again, Carolyn Levitt went on and she said this is just a lot of fake outrage. Fake outrage. Why don't you people in the press report on something that matters to the American public, You know, like the lawsuit Trump has going over a joke he didn't like at the Emmys.

Well.

Yeah, I'm beginning to think this country's a little sleazy. There's a new wrinkle in the Epstein case. Have you heard about this? Okay, they got some surveillance. Why they have it now six years later. Where was this surveillance footage from the jail that Epstein killed himself in the night right before he did. Killed himself or whatever happened in there. The surveillance photo shows video shows an orange colored shape. I swear to God, that's what it says. An orange colored shape moving toward his cell. Now, I know what you're thinking. What's orange and has a reason to want Epstein de. Obviously Hillary in a Trump costume.

That's plainly what it is. I was thinking the same thing. Said.

But this Epstein thing, man, the more you lift up this rock, the more you see it's not just a few bugs that were crawling around under there. I mean, like, who's remember for A long time. Who's on the list? Who isn't on the list? It's. And what these new emails show is they all lied. All these people who were saying all these, we were never mad. We weren't there, didn't do anything. All lied. It's like Epstein island is Hooters. And the. And the entire power structure of the world is saying, yeah, I was just there for the wings.

[Chris Christie]

Now.

[Bill Maher]

And you sort of the Bill Gates one now. I don't know if this is true. This is a claim. We're not saying this is true. This is an ep, by the way. This is. Epstein wrote an email to himself. I didn't even know that was a thing. I've never. Do you write emails to yourself. I've never done. Okay. Wrote an email to himself claiming that Bill Gates was worried that he got an STD from one of the Russian girls and he wanted Epstein to hook him up with an antibiotic they could slip into his wife's coffee. I mean, of all the sleazy things I've ever heard and of all the people not to have antivirus protection.

I'll try it. Oh, we.

We make little jokes all in good fun. But did another person in the Epstein files. We saw this last week. We reported it. Elon Musk also got caught lying red handed. You know, first it was, I didn't want to go there. I said no. And then it turns out when is the good party. But maybe this is maybe why this is. Elon seemed a little down this week because he tweeted out. Whoever said money can't buy happiness really knows what they're talking about. I. On the upside, it can buy ketamine.

All right, well, we got a great show. We have former governor Chris Christie and former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, Christopher Freeland. But first up, he is a Rock and Roll hall of Fame singer songwriter. His 19 day dancing world tour, the great Hits kicks off this summer. The icon John Mellencamp is here. See you again. Oh, please, please, please.

You'll give him a big head and he already has a big head.

[John Mellencamp]

That's coming from him. That's coming to me.

[Bill Maher]

All right.

[John Mellencamp]

Actually, he's really funny.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Well, yeah. Thank you.

[John Mellencamp]

He should be a comedian, right?

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. Well, I'm going to give it a shot.

[John Mellencamp]

You used to be a comedian.

[Bill Maher]

Listen, we have only. Yes, I remember you coming to see me in Indiana and in Indiana, where it's pretty red.

[John Mellencamp]

You went over like.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, people like that. It's real. Like you.

And I remember.

This has Got to be at least 10 years ago. And we took a picture after the show when we looked at it and you went, who are these two old folks?

[John Mellencamp]

Well, let me ask you a question.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah.

[John Mellencamp]

Could you had ever imagined that you would be your age still doing what you're doing?

[Bill Maher]

Are you talking about the show or my social life?

I try to keep away from your social life.

I try to keep away from your social life. No, I just turned 70. So like, you know, anytime.

Any, anytime.

You'Re 70 and the headline isn't he succumbed to. But look who I'm talking to, the ultimate health nut. I mean, you're about to go on this tour, so you're getting in shape for the tour and we have to talk about the tour. But first I just want to show the video. I mean, we don't have to listen to it. But there you are on the treadmill, smoking, and I appreciate you. Not for the 10 minutes route here, because I know that's not easy for you. So tell me about this, because when I saw that it's not the typical way someone thinks of being on the treadmill.

[John Mellencamp]

It's a joke. It's a joke. Yes, of course. But I tell you, in the 80s I'd be on tour and back then smoking wasn't frowned upon so much, but I would actually go into gyms and work out and then take a break and smoke and work out some more.

[Bill Maher]

Well, you know, it's changed your voice. I mean, there's two U's in my iPod. There's like the early U, John Cougar and then John Cougar Mellencamp. By the way, what was the story with Cougar? Why you changed it? They made you have that name. I forget what the deal was.

[John Mellencamp]

I was 21 years old, fresh out of college, fresh in New York, and I went to the same manager that managed Main man, managed David Bowie, and it turned out that the girl behind the desk was from Indiana. So it kind of gave me an in real quick because I was just going to drop off, you know, and I thought that'd be it. But she noticed I was from Indiana, so we talked about it. So immediately I had a meeting. I mean, I walked in cold and I had a meeting and next thing I know they're flying me back to New York. And then I make a demo tape that I thought was a demo tape. And I walk in and they had a picture and they said, this is the album cover, Johnny Cougar. And I went, no.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, they gave you that name without even asking you.

[John Mellencamp]

Oh, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

But you obviously went along with it.

[John Mellencamp]

Here's my choices, Bill. You can either go back to Indiana.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah.

[John Mellencamp]

Or you can be Johnny Cougar. I mean, I was pissed off. I got up and walked out. I said, I'm not doing this.

[Bill Maher]

Who gives a shit?

[John Mellencamp]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

What does it matter what your name is?

[John Mellencamp]

It matters.

[Bill Maher]

Well, plainly it didn't.

[John Mellencamp]

No, it did.

[Bill Maher]

It matters why you sold records as John Cougar. You sold records as John Cougar Mellencamp. You sold records as John Mellencamp.

[John Mellencamp]

The songs were okay.

[Christia Freeland]

I know.

[Bill Maher]

That's what I'm saying. I mean.

[John Mellencamp]

And the critics did not like it. You know, they thought it was cornball. He liked Bad Bunny. It's kind of a corny name. I mean, I don't have anything against the guy, but it is a funny name. Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Almost all rock acts have funny names. I mean, no. What are the Shondells? You know, I mean, there's just. Anyway, before we run out of time with what we do, we were together two hours bullshitting like this on Wednesday. Let's talk about what's important, which is that you were going back on tour and you were playing all your hits. Now, we talked about this, and I didn't understand, because when I saw you, I thought you were playing all hits anyway. Because, like, I don't know anymore. Like, what's a hit? When I was 12, I kept the survey. I knew it was a hit. I just thought every song you did was great when I saw you. But apparently you were only playing a few of your big hits, and now you're going to play all your hits. You said you have been for 17 years. Why have you been depriving us of playing the hits for 17 years?

[John Mellencamp]

Well, let's. You know, I am proud to say, and I'm the luckiest guy in the.

[Bill Maher]

World I have had.

[John Mellencamp]

And I just found this out today, because I called my manager, I said, how many hit records have I had? And I've had 46.

[Bill Maher]

That's a lot.

[John Mellencamp]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

So.

It'S a very long show. You're gonna do.

[John Mellencamp]

Two and a half. Two and a half hours.

[Bill Maher]

Two and a half hours. But you can't get all 46 in there. But.

[John Mellencamp]

No, but there's some songs like this Time I Think I'm Really In Love. Probably not gonna make it.

[Bill Maher]

Well, when I saw you, you played Jack and Diane, and you prefaced it by saying to the audience, you know, I wrote this. I kind of. It was kind of a toss off I didn't think it was the great. But people, we all still love it so much that you said, well, here it is. I'm gonna have to play that.

[John Mellencamp]

In the original writing of Jack and Diane, Jack was black. He was a black guy.

[Bill Maher]

Not Jack. Black. Jack was black. And what. What do you mean, the original? Don't tell me the record company got involved here, too.

[John Mellencamp]

Yes.

[Bill Maher]

Really?

[John Mellencamp]

Oh, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Well, see, now that's a little different than just changing your name.

[John Mellencamp]

I know. That's what I thought.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[John Mellencamp]

That's what I thought. I didn't like it, and I actually didn't even want to put it on the record. After that happened, however, they tested it to a bunch of radio stations, and it tested really good. So I thought, well, you know, I could sacrifice a little bit, you know, here and there.

[Bill Maher]

And where would you imagine Jack and Diane are today, 40 years later? What is their life? What are they doing?

[John Mellencamp]

My record company is making. There's a Broadway show that's starting in Maine in a few months, and it's called Small Town, and it's the story of Jack and Diane. And Diane.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, it's a good idea.

[John Mellencamp]

And Diane is Mexican American, and Jack's dad is rich and is polluting the water in this small town by his business. So it's not like, you know, what do they call those things?

[Christia Freeland]

I don't know.

[Bill Maher]

Bad movies.

[John Mellencamp]

Shitty movies.

[Bill Maher]

Okay, so, you know the other iconic line? I mean, you have so many. You fight authority and you never win. That was always in my walk in music when I was performing before, the audience would walk in. I want them to hear that. It could have set the tone for what I wanted to do. But life goes on long after the thrill is living is gone Living is gone the things you write at 25, when you're then, you know, half a century down the road, I mean, what do you think about with that? When you say, where was my head then? And how much has that resonated with me now?

[John Mellencamp]

I'm not that smart. I'm just not that smart. Songs, you know, what I found out is that I don't try to control the songs. I don't sit there and go, I am going to write a song about Bill Maher. Songs just come to you and they're sent. I know this sounds screwed up to the audience and everybody, but it's true. I'll be doing something like, you know, painting. I'll be painting, and all of a sudden I'll get an idea for a song and I'll go, I Don't want to. Not now. I'm painting. And then it was like, well, fuck, then I'll throw my paintbrush down and go get my guitar and I'll write what I've done. So I don't really, you know, I don't know what half the songs I've written are about.

[Bill Maher]

I do. We were talking about this the other day. I remember them better than you do, but that's okay.

But when you're.

[John Mellencamp]

You know what? It's true. That's absolutely true. Him and I were talking and he started saying lyrics to me and was like, where'd you hear those at?

[Bill Maher]

But when you.

[John Mellencamp]

But I made. I've made 36 albums.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, yeah, I get it.

[John Mellencamp]

That's a lot of. That's a lot of.

[Bill Maher]

And, you know, this memory thing, you're not. It's not because of drugs. You don't. Never did drugs.

[John Mellencamp]

No.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, that was very rare in the music industry.

[John Mellencamp]

I haven't done drugs since 1971.

[Bill Maher]

Would you like to start?

[John Mellencamp]

No. But not only would I not like to start, you wouldn't like to start because me on whiskey and drugs.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, I know.

[John Mellencamp]

Not good.

[Bill Maher]

A lot of fighting.

[John Mellencamp]

Not a good.

[Bill Maher]

Okay, so when you're. But when you're writing a song, can you tell at the moment whether that's a hit or not?

[John Mellencamp]

Sometimes. Sometimes you can. I had a song called Rock in the usa oh, yeah. And I hated it. I just thought, this is fucking stupid and silly. Awful. So it's a true story, guys. I didn't want to put it on the record, but I made the mistake. I never let the record companies hear my records until I present them to them because they have A and R people that want to come in and say, you need to do this, you need to do that. And I always say, no, no, no, no. They don't even ask me anymore. So anyway, I made the mistake of letting somebody hear rock and they just went nuts. That's the number one record. Blah, blah. I don't know. Well, it's not going to be on the album because it didn't fit on the album back when albums had, like a theme and, you know, so I arm wrestled the guy. And we tied, so I had to put it on the record.

[Bill Maher]

And you're gonna play it on this tour. Oh, yeah.

[John Mellencamp]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Okay.

That's what we're here to tell people.

[John Mellencamp]

Every song.

[Bill Maher]

Every.

[John Mellencamp]

Every song is gonna be hit record.

[Bill Maher]

You should go see this show because.

This is a hit record. I love this.

Johnny boy.

Good luck out There. I know I'll see you down the road again. You keep chasing rainbows.

What are we doing?

What are we going to do? Going hang with you. What are we doing?

[Christia Freeland]

I love the joke of a treadmill.

[Bill Maher]

All right.

So we call Indiana friendly. True. We never had that in 23 years of this show. All right. He is a former Republican governor of New Jersey, is now a political and legal contributor for ABC News. Chris Christie back with us.

Thank you for making that plain. I know it was not easy.

Mary Yeoman. Good to be here, man. Okay. She's the former deputy prime minister and minister of finance of Canada, that great country. The honorable Christia Freeland.

How you doing?

Okay. I'm going to begin tonight with an admission. The most important story I think this week is Trump talking about how he thinks the Republican Party should take over elections. And we are going to talk about that. But. And that should be first because it's the most important but because a. I'm a ratings whore.

[Christia Freeland]

Only ratings.

[Bill Maher]

Only ratings. And also because this other issue, if we can call it that, I think will actually have more effect on the elections. I do want to start with Epstein because it's just you can't get away from it and you can't stop thinking about it. And I thought since it is primarily about the abuse of women, you should just have the first say on this and we won't say anything.

[Christia Freeland]

Wow. Okay. Thank you. I was actually going to insist on saying that if we didn't talk about women, so thank you very much, Bill. Yeah, it is. There are so many aspects to what we've heard from all of these Epstein emails and texts and emails he writes himself. But at the end of the day, it is a terrible story about what rich, powerful men abetted by some women do to vulnerable girls and young women. And we have to remember that. And it can be a little bit trendy right now to say, oh, you know, feminism, it went too far. Do we need to now worry about the boys? And I have a son. I worry about him. But I think reading all of this horrible stuff should say to us, we need feminism. We need to stand up for girls and young women.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, for people who have not.

Been following it closely because it was a little fuzzy there for a while because they released it and then there was more and then I thought it was out and it was like, did you release it or didn't you? And they slow dragged it. What's come out in like the last week or so has changed the story a lot for me. Like I said, we turn over this rock, it's not just a few bugs under there. It's like, who isn't under there? You're not in there?

[Chris Christie]

No.

[Bill Maher]

Are there any Canadians in there?

[Chris Christie]

This is what it's like. I'm gonna be married 40 years next month.

[Bill Maher]

And.

[Chris Christie]

I know you don't applaud that, but.

[Bill Maher]

No, no, I do.

[Chris Christie]

This is what it's like to be married 40 years. I'm not on there. And my wife said to me, how aren't you on there?

[Christia Freeland]

So.

[Chris Christie]

There is an element of not being able to win on that argument. It's like, I don't know, I didn't want to be. But look, as a father of daughters, that's the way it struck me this week, right, was, you know, I have a 29 year old daughter and a 22 year old daughter. And I think to myself, you know, this is why as fathers, we have to be so supportive of our daughters so that their self assessment comes from inside them, not from any man or someone else who is trying to make them do something that they think then will make them more acceptable, more socially acceptable or whatever. When you see some of the guys that we all know, Bill, who are on this list and you think to yourself, you're rich, you're successful, you're doing this.

[Bill Maher]

Well, that's what I always said about this. I'm going to say it again. I said it from the beginning. If there's a guy who has a lot of money and you don't know where the money comes from, he's a pimp. That's what this is all about. It's not because he was a witty conversationalist that they were hanging around him. He is a pussy whisperer. All these men who have all the power in the world, they have the money, the prestige, the influence, and they have zero clue how to get a woman into bed.

That's what this is about.

Concierge service for people on the spectrum. And you know, having known this, I have to also do a me, a couple to QAnon. QAnon. Okay, I'm big enough to say, qanon, you are more right about this than I admitted or lots of other people admitted. QAnon. And see, I'm always trying to find the grand bargain, you know, like what can. I'm always trying to put something on the table that says, okay, this is where I'm wrong. So how about something from you? So I'm gonna do that to this tonight again. QAnon, I'm gonna say you were more right about this, but Democrats don't eat babies.

Yeah, give us that one. Hillary didn't want a pedophile ring out of a pizza parlor.

Okay?

[Chris Christie]

Yep.

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[Christia Freeland]

All right, I want to pick up on something.

[HBO Real Time Promo Announcer]

Can I.

[Christia Freeland]

That the governor said, because I thought that was very true and moving, what you said about your daughters. I have two daughters. I thought about them. All those girls and young women were someone's daughter. And it is disgusting that really important, powerful, respected people couldn't see them that way.

[Chris Christie]

You know the artist formerly known as Prince Andrew. I look back on a clip of his getting ready for tonight when he was being interviewed by the BBC, and they said, you knew this guy had been a convicted pedophile. You knew what he had been sent to jail for, yet you still went and stayed with him as an apartment in New York County. You explained, and he looked at the camera and said it was a convenient place to stay. And I think this gives a whole new definition of convenient, Bill.

[Bill Maher]

Right?

[Chris Christie]

You know, this guy and these men like him who believe they're entitled to this. And convenient is about being entitled and entitled to do whatever they want to do to these girls.

[Bill Maher]

Well, the arrogance of not even trying to hide it in the emails, that's what got to me about this. These are guys using their real name and saying these things that. I mean, it's been a long time since we all learned if you don't want something on the front page, don't put it in an email, don't put it In a text, everything is in the cloud. They did not care. And some of these people, these paragons of morale. And look, have powerful men always been bad like this? I'm sure they have. Genghis Khan, I'm sure, did his raping and pillaging. But he wasn't a phony about it. He didn't pretend he was a good guy, I would imagine. No, some of the people. Noam Chomsky, that was like the deal breaker for me. Noam Chomsky. Deepak. Deepak Chopra. Did you find me a cute Israeli? He says, this is in an email. And then they go on about it and just joke about it. You know, how can you listen to this guy as a guru after this? I'm sorry. I'm not trying to pick on him. I know him. He seems like a nice guy. But obviously there's this other side to this Peter Attia guy who, people. I saw him on 60 Minutes recently, this great guru of health, and he's saying some of the.

[Chris Christie]

Oh, man.

[Bill Maher]

What?

[Chris Christie]

Some of his stuff was like, I.

[Bill Maher]

Go into Jeffrey Epstein withdrawal when I don't see him. He says, the problem with becoming friends with you, he says to Epstein, the life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can't tell a soul.

[Christia Freeland]

It's terrible.

[Chris Christie]

But you know what? They're not nice guys. Like, you know, Bill, you can't do this and be a nice guy. Like, so. Cause for nice guys, they have that moment when it's presented to them. They go, I can't do that. No way. And these guys, whether it's Deepak or Noam or Peter Attia, you know what? They're engaged in this stuff. They're not nice guys. They're fakes is what they are.

[Bill Maher]

They're total fakes.

[Christia Freeland]

I think that is totally. But I think what it also says is feminists have a point. This horrible stuff, it's true, though. Like, this horrible stuff is happening to young women and girls, and we have to make it unacceptable. And we have to say, this is not okay. And we have to make it. We have to make it possible for young women and girls to live in the world without this horrible stuff happening to them. And the people who do this need to be shamed and they need to be punished.

[Bill Maher]

Let's not conflate two things.

I think a lot of these guys, Epstein was the pimp, but that doesn't mean he was setting them up with someone who was underage. He himself was plainly with underage girls, because you see this over and over again. So to me, there's a couple of moral failings. One is just being involved with this guy. The other is over and over. You see in these emails this kind of winkingness at the. Like, they joke about Jeffrey with this young kid. That girl you were with last time is a little naughty. You know, just as if it was the kind of things we would just kid each other about, like, oh, Chris loves playing golf too much. You know, that kind of stuff. And that, to me, is almost skeevier.

[Chris Christie]

Bring your harem.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, bring your harem.

[Chris Christie]

Bring your harem. You know, that kind of stuff.

[Christia Freeland]

No, you're right. It was like that funny comment of John Mellencamp's where he was like, yeah, I'm smoking on the treadmill. It's a joke. And this stuff is not a joke.

[Bill Maher]

No, it isn't. Okay. Well, I read this week that ice is pulling out Minnesota a lot.

[Chris Christie]

It's a good segue.

[Bill Maher]

That's a good subway. Moving on to another topic, and there's.

Been a lot of. Well, I'm getting to the segue that it involves you.

It involves me, yes. Because I know you're now really worried. Well, because I know you're the world's biggest Bruce Springsteen fan.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And he put out a protest record about. I heard it about ice. Okay. It was called Streets of Minneapolis. And a number of other people have done it. I'm not that familiar with some of these other artists, but what I found out is that, of course, in this country, just like with the super bowl halftime show, nothing is ever done on one side. So now there's certain artists. I don't know who they are, but they're putting out some pro ice songs. It's not just. The bag is never going to leave anything unanswered. Would you like to hear some of.

The MAGA artists throw ice songs? Because these are different songs.

For instance, there's I will always shove you.

If I had a hammer, I'd use.

It to smash your windshield. Where the streets have no shame. I've gotten you under my shin. I can't feel my face because you maced it. Booked on a feeling. Baby got sent back. And of course, no longer working at the car wash.

All right, so.

Last week, I did a whole thing here at the end of the show about how celebrities not good for the Democratic Party party. I think the Democrats should cut loose their celebrities. I don't think they're helping. I don't think people see them as relatable. I don't think anyone. People think knows about their problems even though they're always making political pronouncements. And then I watched the Grammys and I saw Justin Bieber singing in his underwear. I saw Chapel Roan there holding a dress up with nipple clips and I saw Lady Gaga singing with a lampshade on her. So I guess I was way off on that, huh?

[John Mellencamp]

So.

[Bill Maher]

But apparently they did not hear me at the Grammys.

Cause Billie Eilish, there's a big controversy this week. She said there's no illegals on stolen land. And she said it's hard to know what to say. Which I would say, then don't say anything because you don't know things. So you didn't go to school, I don't think, and you don't know facts. She said, keep fighting and protesting and speaking up. I totally agree with that. She said voices matter, people matter. And I would just say so does knowledge. And I mean, I would just like to know where. And this is especially important for you because Canada has been facing this issue with Indigenous peoples and it can go beyond just the virtue signaling of saying something because they're sort of taking it seriously. Now in Canada with repossessing land for indigenous peoples, what is the practical next step? If you say that there's no such thing as illegal people on media stolen land. Okay, now of course, immediately the people, the tribe here in California asked for her house, which I thought was pretty great. But what is the practical next step? This is my problem always with things like this from the left that are so performative. Okay, Even if we agreed with that. Stolen land. Yes, lots of land is stolen, by the way, not just here. But okay, so it is. What do we do about that? We give it all back and go back to living in teepees. What is the practical next step?

[Christia Freeland]

Well, look, Bill, what I would first say is in Canada the situation is quite different from the US and the vast majority of the relationships between Indigenous people in Canada and the Crown are based on treaties, treaties which are legal documents, just like the land title I have to my house. And so a treaty based relationship is important to honour, it's important to work with. And I think Canada has made a lot of progress there. And where I would say the conversation has moved in Canada is towards Indigenous prosperity. And the fact is, which is a terrible fact, Indigenous people in Canada are the underclass. They go to jail more, they're poorer, they die younger, they suffer more from.

[Bill Maher]

And Canadians who are the great people of the world, treated them like shit, just like everybody Treated everybody like shit.

[Christia Freeland]

Exactly right.

[Bill Maher]

And that happened in the past.

[Christia Freeland]

And so what.

[Bill Maher]

The focus should acknowledge that and try to in some ways make reparations.

[Christia Freeland]

But, well, or what I would say is what we need. Like, certainly what we've been working on in Canada and work that I did as finance minister is on Indigenous prosperity. And so we created a $5 billion fund to support Indigenous businesses working Indigenous businesses building their own prosperity, their own sources of wealth. And it actually works. So Keystone, the Keystone pipeline the US hasn't managed to build. When I was finance Minister, we built a pipeline which is very important, diverse, diversifying Canada's economy, giving us access to the Pacific. So we're not as dependent on the United States because you're not a very reliable boyfriend right now. And one of the reasons we were able to get that pipeline built, which the government built and still owns, is because we cooperated with all the indigenous people along the route. So I would say make the conversation. I totally agree with you. Virtue signaling is yucky. People hate it. What you said about people liking you in Indiana is right because you're real. But so if you care about the plight of Indigenous people, then work to create economic conditions so they can prosper.

[Bill Maher]

I just want to refocus this back on what the real issue is like, what do we actually do? Because let me read our friend David Frum, he's from Canada on the. He said, Canadians have learned that these well meaning pronouncements are not in fact, harmless. Courts are reinterpreting these rote confessions of historical guilt as legally enforceable. 800 acres south of downtown Vancouver must be subordinated to a group of about 5,000 Indigenous Canadians. They're talking about the land underneath Canada's Parliament buildings. And the irony here is the value of this land is all. All gone down a lot because people are not sure whether it's going to be theirs to own in the future.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah, I mean, look, first off, back to what you started with, which is, you know, these pronouncements from celebrities who most of them have not taken the time to even understand the first degree subtlety to these issues, let alone second and third degree subtlety, is why the Democratic Party has some of the problems it has because they latch themselves to these folks and then nod their heads and agree when stupid stuff like Billie Eilish said at the Grammys and two of my kids were home for the Grammys and forced me to watch this.

[Christia Freeland]

Did they tie you down?

[Chris Christie]

I mean, like. No, they took. They did the greatest sin you could ever do to a father. They took away the remote control from.

[Christia Freeland]

Me.

[Chris Christie]

Took it from me and threw it back and forth to each other so that I couldn't get it back. So I had to watch Lady Gaga with the lampshade on and Bieber and then the Billie Eilish crap. But the fact is that. Let's off Canada and to America for a minute on this. You know, it's a complicated history, okay? You know, people got screwed along the way. Yes, we agree with that. But if what we're gonna do today is say these pronouncements and then have no real solution to behind that pronouncement, it's all bullshit.

[Bill Maher]

It reminds me of.

It's such bullshit.

It reminds me of what the Gaza protestors say. From the river to the sea. Well, that means either all of Israelis do die, which a lot of them would like, that would be their choice. Or they move. All of Israel's going to move. That's not going to happen. And Los Angeles is not going to move. And we're not going to give back New Mexico. We have to deal with the future, not just the past.

[Christia Freeland]

Okay, can I take one small one?

[Bill Maher]

Yes, please.

[Christia Freeland]

I think you're totally right. And we also can't, like, I really don't want to be like the boring progressive Canadian tonight who's.

[Bill Maher]

Okay, okay, good now.

[Christia Freeland]

And indigenous people, although Canadians are in favour of both. But like, look, we progressives, we liberals, we can't present a vision of our countries that disenfranchises everybody. We can't say to people, you're not allowed to have your house. Your house is on stolen land. People then will not support us and they will be right not to support us. But what really bugs me about this whole controversy is I thought it was powerful that some of those award winners at the Grammys did speak about ice. And I agree with you broadly, Bill, that celebrities should not be the leaders of political movements. But I think it would have been wrong for them not to comment on this really horrible thing happening.

[Bill Maher]

Agree to disagree.

All right, finally, like I promised, there's. We need to get to this.

The most important issue. Trump said if states can't count the votes legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over. Well, take over in 15 states. Let me guess which ones. The ones you lost. First of all, you know, I'm the slow moving coup guy. I'm the one who said that about him originally, okay. Before he won the first election. Okay. So I have stuck. I think this is just another phase of this. But I just want to know. You're a lawyer. You've been in government your whole life. I don't even know what this means, that the GOP should take over elections. What does that actually mean? My view of my memory, maybe my dream of what an election is, is there are observers from both parties in the room when they're counting the votes. Okay, does this mean now no Democrats in that room? Is that what this means?

[Chris Christie]

No, because that once they're counted by both, then they get to recount them in case it doesn't work out the way they want to. I mean, look, it's ridiculous. In my state, we have. In every county of our 21 counties, we have two Republicans and two Democrats in the room when every vote is being counted. And, you know, the president said the other day, after all, states are just the agents the federal government. And I'm like, this is the most liberal guy I've ever seen. I mean, you want to talk about a guy who has no philosophy at all, he's wearing the Republican coat. But any real Republican would say, are you crazy? This is not what we want. We have states who have their own rights. And, you know, Article 1, Section 4, the Constitution says that the states run the elections. But that doesn't matter to him.

[Bill Maher]

He sent his Director of National Intelligence, which I don't know what even has to do with this, down to Fulton County, Georgia. That's the area, I guess, where the votes he thinks were miscounted, they were counted three times. Because, as we know, he called up and said, I need you to find votes. I mean, to me, that was like the most smoking gun thing ever.

[Chris Christie]

And the last time, by hand. They counted them all by hand.

[Bill Maher]

Three times. They counted. But we're gonna count it until somebody gets it right. Right?

[Chris Christie]

Yeah. And look, he. We understand this bill like, about him. This is all about his ego. He can't. And look, I don't blame him. I'd be pretty bummed out if I lost to Joe Biden, too. But. But. But the fact is he can't. He can't live with it, so he can't let it go. And he's going to keep going and going and going. And what it does in the process, which any responsible person would understand, is it makes people in the country think our elections aren't on the level.

[Bill Maher]

Yes.

[Chris Christie]

And that's the damage he's doing. But he doesn't give a shit about doing that damage because all he wants to do is prove that every time he's in a contest. He wins every building he likes. He can name after himself. Like, this is what he wants to do, and that's why he's not a good guy.

[Bill Maher]

Well, there's only three more years.

All right, time for new rules, everybody. New rules. All right, new rule.

Now that Dove is collaborating with the Netflix show Bridgerton to release a line of body washes and deodorants, they must get real about what people actually smelled like in 1813, Which was piss, shit, horse, and other people. You think a thin layer of chamomile could do that kind of heavy lifting? Try a fire hose.

Just be thankful you can't smell the sex scene.

[John Mellencamp]

Nooral.

[Bill Maher]

Now that heavyweight bak Jerrel Miller had his toupee knocked off in the middle of his fight with Kingsley Ebay at Madison Square Garden. Boxing fans must admit that's new.

I mean.

I've seen the Real Housewives turn into a fight, but never a fight turn into the Real Housewives. Neuro we almost agree that when it comes to men doing the most perverted things, we have a winner. A hospital in France was evacuated last week after a man showed up with a World War I artillery shell stuck up his butt. Which to me, answers the question, why haven't aliens made contact with us now? Because they just don't see us as a threat. When their leader asks, should we be worried about the humans? The scouts report, I don't think so. Some guy just shoved a bomb up his ass. Oh, new rule. I'm sorry. This just in. We have a new perverted man winner. A Florida man, of course, has been arrested for having sex with a vacuum cleaner. Dude, you could have been injured or suffered an electric shock. Plus, there's nothing more annoying than when you're trying to fuck the vacuum cleaner and the dog won't stop barking at it. Someone must tell the president after he scolded CNN's Kaitlan Collins for not smiling enough saying, I've known you for 10 years. I don't think I've ever seen a smile on your face. Don, for a guy who is such a player, you really should know that the number one thing women hate is when you tell them to smile. It's chick 101. And also, she always smiles when she's on my show. And finally, new rule. Let's call Super Bowl Sunday what it really is. Super Bet Sunday. Because Major League sports has become wager. Just to give you a couple of pertinent stats, 57% of American adults report doing some form of gambling now and that's not counting having sex in a state with an abortion ban. Half of men under 50 now have an active online sports betting account, which explains why half of women listen to podcasts about wives murdering their husbands. Look, when it comes to issues of personal enjoyment, I'm a total libertarian. Some people want to ban football itself because there's so much brain damage. But I say that risk has to be your choice if it's what you love to do. Gambling also ruins lives. Still got to be your choice. But tonight, just for information's sake, I would like to take you through just how much things have changed with gambling in America. When I was 20, there was literally one place you could do it. Nevada. I know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas is their motto. But not really. That shit got out, and now it's everywhere. Which is weird, because this country was founded by puritans who hated gambling and banned it in 1631, along with adultery and cohabitating with Indians. So if you had plans for the Mohegan sun, forget it. And that feeling that gambling was a dirty little vice best kept in back alleys, that held for 300 years until 1931, when Nevada legalized it. And even then, it was still considered so socially unacceptable, it took another 15 years before the mob opened the flamingo. In the 1950s, there was a hit musical called Guys and Dolls about a degenerate gambler, as all gamblers are degenerate. Marlon Brando plays Sky Masterson. Degenerate. Because he wouldn't. He would bet on anything, like which sugar cube a fly would land on, where the Lindy's would sell more cheesecake or strudel. Crazy shit like that. Well, now that's called Polymarket.

It's the exact same thing.

You bet on anything. Oscar winners, trial outcomes. When we bomb Iran, the weather, the color of the Gatorade at the game. How many minutes into halftime before ice grabs? Big Bunny, Bad Bunny.

Big Bird.

Big Bird.

Big Bunny, Big Bunnies.

Next year. But let's go back to how we got here, because, okay, first no gambling for 300 years. Then gambling in one place for another. Almost half century until Atlantic City. Vegas with seagulls. But that was it. If you went broke in Vegas or Reno, you could try Atlantic City. And if you lost your. You became President of the United States. But I guess there's just something about a business where people give you money for nothing that made it too hard to contain forever. In 1964, New Hampshire became the first state where the politicians figured out they could avoid raising taxes if they had a state lottery. And now 45 states have that, with the money often promised to go to education. Which is especially funny since it's mostly played by people who think, huh, 99.99999% chance of losing. I like those odds. In 1971, off the to track betting was legalized for the first time. And now most states have that. In 1988, Congress okayed gambling on reservations as reparations to Native Americans. Because what better way to make it up to the most spiritual people on earth than by giving them a piece of the sleaziest business ever? But not just. Just Indian lands. Also, for some reason, in 1989, riverboats. Riverboats which never leave the dock because gambling is a scourge of society. But when you do it on an old timey boat with a steam paddle, it's fine. It's fine. It's like when we all pretended we had glaucoma so we could get pot with a prescription. And then came the big one. In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting. And then all bets were off. Or actually on. Everywhere. Online, on your phone, before the game, during the game. ESPN is just OTB now. It's literally partnered with DraftKings. Professional sports leagues used to be scared to death to go anywhere near gambling. Now they have teams in Las Vegas. Teams used to ban gamblers. Now Caesar Sportsbook is the official partner of the New York Mets, which is crazy. Who would ever bet on the Mets? So I gotta ask, is this what we're doing now instead of having an actual economy? I get it. Too many people feel that even cloying their way to the middle class is. Forget fantasy football. Owning a home, that's the real fantasy. And yet half of all millennials do own a home. And most of the gambling is done by really young men. To whom I say, why don't you let life kick you in the ass before you give up on it? I'm sure that an afternoon doing scratch offs at the gas station is a great way to signal to women I'm not marriage material. But. But it's not a retirement plan. Gambling isn't just bad because you lose the rent. It's bad because it gives permission to stop believing that you control your destiny. But this is still America. And you still do. When I was in college and wanted money, I didn't gamble. I got a job. Okay, it was selling drug, but at.

Least I wasn't just leaving my future to chance.

That's not us. That's Eastern culture. I'm not putting it down, but it is more fatalistic in the Middle East. You can't say three words without someone responding. If God wills it. See you for lunch tomorrow? God willing. Oh, for fuck's sake. Kismet. You know, but this is why Macau does three times the gambling business that Vegas does. It's why every movie with a foot chase through Chinatown ends up in a basement full of guys playing mahjong. It's why many Chinese restaurants have the word luck in their name. But that's not us. We're the we don't accept fate. We make it people.

Not the we're up all night to get lucky people. All right, that's our show. I want to to thank Chris Christie, Christopher and John Mellencab Club Random drops Every Monday on YouTube or listen to every get your podcast now. Go watch Overtime on YouTube. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.

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