Ep. #730: Ben McKenzie, Dan Jones, David French

Summary

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Real Time with Bill Maher Ep. #730: Ben McKenzie, Dan Jones, David French

Date: May 16, 2026
Guests: Ben McKenzie, Dan Jones, David French
Synopsis: A lively, combative episode focusing on American decline, U.S.-China relations, crypto's corrupting influence, the new AI arms race, plagues and loss of trust, loneliness and polarization, and a scathing “New Rules” take on antisemitism.

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Episode Overview

This episode centers around the perceived decline of America—evaluated through the lens of recent U.S.-China relations, the corrupt power of crypto lobbying, the existential risks of AI, the new Hantavirus scare, and the growing problem of isolation, polarization, and loss of social trust. Bill Maher, joined by actor and crypto skeptic Ben McKenzie, historian Dan Jones, and conservative columnist David French, brings a blend of hard-hitting satire and trenchant political analysis.

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Main Segments & Key Discussion Points

[01:38] Opening Monologue: U.S.-China Summit Satire

• Bill Maher and panel lampoon the recent Trump-Xi Jinping China summit, characterizing it as pageantry with no substance, likening it to sitcoms taking a cast trip to Hawaii.
• Maher jokes about American and Chinese leaders’ mutual flattery and avoidance of real issues: “No demands except you have to try these dumplings.” [03:22]
• Tech figures (Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Jensen Huang) are mocked for their presence, with Maher quipping on Musk respecting China’s leadership: “Out of respect for the one child rule…while in China for two days, Elon only fathered one child.” [04:38]
• Undercurrents of American decline are implied, referencing Trump’s business dealings and right-wing media sycophancy.

[08:51] Interview: Ben McKenzie — Crypto Corruption and the "Genius Act"

The Problem with Crypto

• McKenzie’s documentary, Everyone is Lying to You for Money, critiques how “crypto” has corrupted politics and policy:
  • “44% of all money in 2024 [elections] came from crypto. The crypto lobby and people associated with it.” (McKenzie, [09:41])
• Laments bipartisan complicity, especially Democrats supporting pro-crypto bills (the “Genius Act,” which lets corporations issue their own crypto).
  • “If a Democratic elected leader chooses literal corporate money over the interests of his constituents, I believe they should get the fuck out of the party.” (McKenzie, [10:22])

What's the Threat?

• Argues crypto serves little public good: “Crypto is only good for two things. Gambling and crime.” (McKenzie, [12:13])
• Details new forms of corruption—Trump allegedly makes most of his in-office money via crypto, with current legislation providing zero oversight:
  • “There is no provision in this bill to stop Trump's crypto corruption.” (McKenzie, [13:08-13:48])
• Asserts stablecoins are essentially “black market dollars,” enabling foreign adversaries, organized crime, kidnappers, etc.
  • “$154 billion of criminal activity was facilitated via cryptocurrency [last year].” (McKenzie, [14:36])
  • Describes Tether as the primary criminal instrument, brokered by Cantor Fitzgerald (Howard Lutnick’s firm).

The “But Dollar’s Fake Too” Defense

• McKenzie and Maher discuss the fiat money critique:
  • Maher: “All money’s made up.” ([15:31])
  • McKenzie: “Our money…is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States [via] the 300 million Americans who worked their asses off over 250 years.” ([15:46])

Needed Regulation—Insider Enrichment

• McKenzie compares crypto to a turbocharged version of past insider trading scams:
  • “The insiders always win and the general public always loses.” ([16:24])
  • Example: Trump/Melania meme coins down 96%—insiders dump tokens after followers buy in.
• Urges regulation as securities, not commodities: “They [crypto lobby] want the weaker regulatory agency [CFTC]. This is regulatory capture….The lobbyists sit with senators and staff and write these laws.” ([17:19-18:14])

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[18:17] Panel Debate: U.S.-China Relations, Decline, and the AI Arms Race

U.S.-China: Show or Substance? [19:35-22:12]

• David French: Minimal policy substance, but historic in signaling China sees itself as ascendant, the West as declining.
  • “In Xi’s view…this is the east on the rise…America on the decline.” ([19:35])
• Dan Jones: Trump sees global affairs as “spheres of influence,” not alliances—a “three dudes that matter…Putin, Xi, and him.” ([20:37])
  • Trump admires autocratic power: “He wants to be like Putin, like Xi—to have that autonomy…that pesky little separation of powers and Supreme Court denies him.” ([21:11])

Is American Decline Real?

• Panel agrees American decline is a “choice,” not inevitable:
  • Jones: “Decline under Trump is a choice…We are choosing to be weaker. That’s not the same as decline.” ([23:17])
• French: Sees Trump’s worldview as egocentric, shrinking America’s global role from leader of the free world to “an extension of his own ego,” likening him to “a kind of deranged Roman emperor, Nero, or Caligula.” ([24:22])

Missed AI Opportunity — Existential Risk

• Maher: AI is the real U.S.-China issue—missed opportunity for joint guardrails.
  • “That, to me, was the big disappointment…We have to move on...getting some sort of deal with the Chinese about AI before we race each other to death.” ([25:24])
• Jones: “Think of it as Nuclear arms race 2.0…We’ve got a guy [Trump] whose version of a deal is just that somebody maybe possibly says something positive and then he announces a deal or he just makes it up. …He is constantly promoting deals that don’t exist, victories that never happened.” ([26:50])
• French: AI should not just be economic fuel, but is “an extinction level, existential level issue that requires grown up leadership.” ([29:17])

Taiwan: Flashpoint and Supply Chain [29:53-32:41]

• The panel highlights Taiwan's dual role: supreme source of chips and looming geopolitical powder keg. U.S. military support is inconsistent, raising risk.

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[38:21] Contagion & Trust: Hantavirus, Pandemic Preparation, and Institutional Failure

• Comedic roast of cruise ship health disasters segues into pandemic anxieties and the deep loss of trust in public health authorities.
  • Jones: “What I am…nervous about is…we’ll go into this cycle where public health officials just won’t level with us…Say what you know. And if you don’t know something, say ‘we don’t know.’” ([38:34])
  • Maher & French: Look back at COVID leadership failures: mixed messaging, mandates, and squelching dissent have permanently eroded trust. If another pandemic hits soon, fallout will be worse.
  • French: “The level of public trust was eroded by over stringent lockdowns, by forcing people to take a vaccine whether they needed it or not…If there’s another pandemic… the blame can only be leveled at…the governments that made such crazy policy in Covid in the first place.” ([40:40])
• Maher rails against unchecked factory farming/gain-of-function research as the cause of new plagues: “We haven’t done a thing about factory farming.” ([41:09])

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[42:54] Social Breakdown: Loneliness, Belonging, and Class Divides

Americans Don't Like Each Other

• Cites a study: “We’re the only country where people in the country think the other people in the country are shit.” ([42:54])
• Jones: Links sense of not belonging to extremism:
  • “An overwhelming majority of Americans just don’t feel like they belong in this country. …They’re less committed to democracy, …less openness...If you want to heal a lot, actually be kind…Make a friend.” ([44:20])
• French: Cell phones drive isolation: “The hybridization of machine mind and human mind is very far advanced through the phone industry. …It’s easier to [stare at your screen] than to talk to people around you. This is driving you towards polarity.” ([45:59])
• Maher: Blames class divides—upper-middle live in McMansions, the poor “on top of each other and …you fucking hate these people.” ([46:37])

The “Group 1 Economy” Problem

• Jones: “Top 10% of Americans in income now account for majority of all consumer spending. …It creates…a ‘Group 1 economy’ when most of us have Group 9 incomes.” ([47:31])

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[48:03] “New Rules”: On Antisemitism — Left, Right, and Everywhere

Bill Maher’s Signature Rant [48:03–59:32]

• Argues antisemitism has become “not just acceptable now. It’s cool, celebrities love it and make it trendy.”
  • Examples range from far-right podcast guests to Coachella rap groups to university professors: “People talk about Jews these days like something out of Stormfront. Except it’s not Stormfront. It’s an editor from the American Prospect…” ([48:03–52:00])
• Conflates left-wing anti-Zionism with classic antisemitism, criticizing Democratic silence:
  • “Democrats, where are you? If any other minority group was being talked about this way, you’d break out the Kenta cloth and have ten benefit concerts. But…because so many of you are brainwashed by TikTok…you indulge them.” ([55:40])
• Acknowledges Islamophobia, but pushes back on “false equivalency”: “Anti Jewish crimes…outpace anti Muslim hate crimes nine to one. …There is a frothing anxiousness for the literal extermination of this one group.” ([56:40])
• Closing demand to Democrats: “Until you fix this whole issue, stop asking me [why I’m harder on Democrats].” ([58:59])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Ben McKenzie: “If a Democratic leader chooses literal corporate money over the interests of his constituents, I believe they should get the fuck out of the party.” [10:22]
• Bill Maher: “Crypto is only good for two things. Gambling and crime.” [12:13]
• Dan Jones: “Decline under Trump is a choice... We're choosing to be weaker. That's not the same thing as decline.” [23:17]
• David French: “You look at Trump and see more like a kind of deranged Roman emperor, Nero, or a Caligula.” [24:22]
• Dan Jones: “Think of it as like a group 1 economy when most of us have group 9 incomes. And that doesn't work for people. It just doesn't.” [47:31]
• Bill Maher (New Rules): “If you think as so many do now, that Israel is the monster country of all time, you either don’t want to read or you don’t care about your own hypocrisy...” [After 48:03]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:38] Opening Monologue – Trump in China, American decline jokes
• [08:51] Ben McKenzie interview – Crypto, political corruption, “Genius Act”
• [18:17] Panel segment begins – China summit analysis
• [25:24] Missed opportunity for U.S.-China AI guardrails
• [29:53] Taiwan, chips, and military readiness
• [38:21] Hantavirus & trust in public health
• [42:54] Study on national belonging, loneliness, extremism
• [48:03] “New Rules”: Satirical close, focus on antisemitism and political hypocrisy

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Tone & Style

• The mood is biting, sarcastic, and at times darkly humorous, blending Maher’s polemical style with moments of earnest policy critique and gloom about institutional decay.
• Guests speak candidly, with sharp criticisms of both left and right, and a recurring sense that America’s main problems are self-inflicted—by corruption, tribal politics, and social fragmentation.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode skewers both the American political establishment and the new culture of alienation and cynicism. From crypto’s corrupting impact, to the failure of the U.S.–China summit to confront existential risks, to pandemic mismanagement and social distrust, Maher and his panel argue that decline is a self-made choice. The “New Rules” finale is a fierce warning about today’s cool, casual antisemitism and the deafening Democratic Party silence in confronting it.

Transcript

[Bill Maher]

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[Marc Maron]

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[David French]

welcome to

[Marc Maron]

an HBO podcast from the HBO late

[Dan Jones]

night series Real Time with Bill Maher.

[Marc Maron]

How you doing? How are you down here? Thank you people. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you for coming. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. You're so kind. Thank you. Thank you so much, people. I appreciate that. I know why you're happy that the big summit in China went fantastic. No? Trump is on his way back right now. It's late Friday afternoon in Los Angeles. He's probably in the air. Coming back to air to Andrews Air Force Base and relations with China, I can just tell they're better now. I ordered takeout today and the menu said, go ahead, make some substitution, which you don't often see on the menu. But honestly, Trump, he hates China, but he loves Xi, he loves president. To say this was a love fest between these two guys is an understatement. As he left, Trump said, thanked Xi Xi profusely for his hospitality and gee, thanked Trump for making China way more popular around the world. And it's funny cause our two countries have a lot of issues between them. But it seemed like in this big summit they were mostly avoided. No demands except you have to try these dumplings. That was the only. And no, you know what? China knows what Trump likes. What does he like? He likes the pomp and the parades and he likes the red carpet and there were thousands of children waving American flags. And you know, and Xi, he's clever. You know, he knows he bargained like someone who knows he holds the cards now. Ever since Trump backed down on their big trade war in fact, as a subtle dig, they served orange chicken. Sorry, the Chinese. Yeah. Xi, Xi not holding back here. He said, we are a declining nation. Oh, and Trump, he said, you know, he doesn't engage him like that. He just said, well, you know what? When he said declining nation, he was talking about Biden's four years. And Trump is right under Trump, gas prices, they haven't declined and inflation, that's not declining. But you know Trump, he loves this guy. He calls him a tough cookie. He loves, he loves a tough cookie. He says he's a. He says he's a great leader. I say it to everybody. He didn't say it to me, but, you know, no, maybe,

[Bill Maher]

Maybe he did

[Marc Maron]

and I didn't hear it because I was so nervous. No, Trump says, with Xi, there's no games with him. It's getting a little weird, you know, at one point, Xi told his translator, tell Trump, don't catch feelings. It's a little. I'm glad our leaders of these two powerful countries and nuclear weapons aren't fighting. But it's getting a little, you know, personal. Trump said, you know what he said about G. He said, if you went to Hollywood, you couldn't find in central casting a better guy for the. He did at one point. He said, gee, your hair smells terrific. Oh, you don't remember that? Well, you know what, you know what, people, maybe America is. You wouldn't know it by who Trump brought with him on the trip because he brought some fucking heavy hitters, man, some tech bros. And these guys do run shit in this world, okay? Elon Musk was there. The CEO of Apple was there. Very sweet moment when the CEO of Apple, he saw all the kids and he said, get back to work. I kidding. And no, come on, America just still rules in a lot of ways. We got Elon Musk. He was there in a suit. You don't see that often. That shows the respect Elon Musk has for the Chinese leadership. And out of respect for the one child rule that was a pillar of Chinese society for so long. While he was in China for two days, Elon only fathered one child. Very. Oh, another of the tech titans. That's from America. Who was there? Jensen Huang of Nvidia, the chip maker. And interesting side note here, Trump this year has bought and sold millions of dollars in stock in companies that do business with the government. We're just doing that out front now, including Nvidia and Boeing. And you know who got some deals when he was in China? Nvidia and Boeing. Scott Jennings, your move. And of course, Trump's defense here is that he uses a blind trust. Yes. That's what he gets from Republicans in Congress. Blind trust. Exactly. And I gotta say, also the right wing media, I mean, Sean Hannity was on the trip. They did an interview. I don't want to say Sean Hannity lobs a lot of softballs, but today he was made an honorary lesbian and. All right, one more thing. I hate to bring this up, because I remember standing in this space like, what was it, six years ago, and talking about COVID and we said, okay, well, now there's this new one, hantavirus. I know everyone's like, we hope it's not. But, you know, we keep hearing some things. Like, today it came out. It can survive in sperm for six years. I just got to say, if you have sperm that's more than six years old, see a doctor. You might be married. Oh, I kid. All right, we got a great show. Dan Jones and David French are here. But first up, he is the actor who wrote, produced, and directed the new documentary film, Everyone is Lying to you for money. Ben McKenzie. Ben. Hey, how you doing? Good to see you, too. Okay. All right. So, Ben, everyone is lying to you for money, but really mostly about crypto.

[Bill Maher]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

Why are you saying everyone? Because really, it's crypto that we're talking about in this documentary.

[Bill Maher]

Well, that's right. Well, that's how you make the real money, is with the fake stuff.

[Marc Maron]

Okay.

[Bill Maher]

And Donald Trump. Donald Trump is the perfect illustration of that.

[Marc Maron]

Okay, well, so if anyone's expecting this to be the kind of interview about crypto where, you know, I ask you the tough questions and, you know, I. I don't do that on the show. I never have. I say what I think. Sometimes I agree with people, sometimes I don't. We're on the same page here. Yeah. So let's not just pretend. Let's just tear the new asshole it deserves.

[Bill Maher]

Do it, baby.

[Marc Maron]

You've tore it a new asshole. I've tore it a new asshole. Let's just start with this crypto. I didn't realize this until I saw this in your movie. 44% of the money that went to the last election from corporations came from crypto sources. That's crazy, since it doesn't really exist. It's play money, and it's financing presidential elections.

[Bill Maher]

Yes. 44% of all money in 2024 came from crypto. The crypto lobby and people associated with it.

[Marc Maron]

And what do we expect they're going to get from this because they're getting it right now.

[Bill Maher]

They're getting legislation that's favorable to the industry.

[Marc Maron]

Favorable in what way?

[Bill Maher]

They already passed a bill called the Genius act, which, if you know this Congress, it's called the Genius Act. It's got to be stupid. The Genius act allows corporations to issue their own currencies in the form of cryptocurrencies. So literal corporate money. Right. And look, the Republicans are going to vote for this nonsense because, of course, they're slavishly devoted to Dear Leader. But I'm really pissed off about the Democrats. I mean, 100 Democrats voted for this, including Hakeem Jeffries, including my congressman, Dan Goldman, which is why I'm supporting his opponent. If a Democratic elected leader chooses literal corporate money over the interests of his constituents, I believe they should get the fuck out of the party. It is. It is nonsense. It's going on right now. Actually, they just got a bill out of committee, another bill called the Clarity act out of committee. And the Democratic senator who got it out of committee is Ruben Gallego. In 2024, his campaign got $10 million from a crypto super PAC. So I'm sure Senator Gallego's support of this is his deep understanding and love of blockchain technology. But it might also be his cozy relationship with the crypto lobby.

[Marc Maron]

Well, let's go back even further and try to explain why we think it's just so terrible. Because money. I mean, money's a dirty business. However, talk about it. I mean, before crypto came along, the biggest villains were hedge fund guys. And hedge fund guys, you know, okay. I mean, they get very rich just chasing numbers around a screen. They don't actually make anything. But here's the difference. They do finance companies. The stock market does something. We have to somehow finance the government, which is $29 trillion in debt. Where does that come from? From banks? From actual money, in other words. What I'm saying is, before crypto, maybe money was dirty, but it did do a service. You know, you need money. We all need money. And money is itself a commodity. Right. What we're saying is this is just. Crypto is just a Ponzi scam. But unlike even other Ponzi scams, there's nothing at the part of it that you can cling it to. It's just saying nothing. Just pure speculation.

[Bill Maher]

Crypto is only good for two things. Gambling and crime. And the gambling is the betting that this or that cryptocurrency is going to

[Marc Maron]

go up or down, and bribes.

[Bill Maher]

And that's the crime, Right?

[Marc Maron]

Well, that's one of them.

[Bill Maher]

One of the. Exactly. One of many, many, many crimes. But Donald Trump, you know, most of the money that he's made in office is via cryptocurrency. And what's terrifying about this bill that they just passed through committee, that, by the way, they need seven votes on the floor from the Democrats to pass. So I'm looking at, you know, Senator Warner, Senator Warnock, Senator also Brooks. I'm looking at them to hopefully do the right thing, because if they don't, there's going to be hell to pay. But they are. There is no provision in this bill to stop Trump's crypto corruption. No provision. And so Senator Gallego and all these Democrats will rail against Trump's corruption on a Tuesday, but on Wednesday, they vote for a bill that goes forward without any provision to stop that corruption.

[Marc Maron]

So where's it going to end? I mean, I keep you. We're talking about criminals. I'm a kidnapper. Let's say I kidnap you because this is what goes on now. And I want. The ransom is in crypto. Yeah. And the reason why is because it's not traceable like real money. You don't have to throw a bag of money off the bridge, you know, that we've seen in a million movies. No. Okay, so it only works because the kidnapper is actually getting something of value.

[Bill Maher]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

The crypto is real. This all goes away if the ball, you know, there's a ball in the air that's just being held in the air by sheer belief. Does that ball ever fall down?

[Bill Maher]

Well, what's changed since we last talked is these things called stablecoins, which are cryptos, that the price doesn't go up and down. They're supposedly stable, although they fail all the time. That'll shock you, but they're basically supposed to be pegged one to one with real currencies. So they're basically black market dollars. The ships passing the Strait of Hormuz. Right now, the Iranians are getting their payment in stablecoins. This is counterfeit money. This is money. It's saying it's a US Dollar, but it's not a US Dollar. And its only real purpose is criminal activity. And to give you a sense of how much criminal activity we're talking about, last year a crypto company, estimated $154 billion of criminal activity was facilitated via cryptocurrency. 154 billion in a single year. It is shocking and outrageous that our elected members of government are facilitating this, the largest stablecoin company is a company called Tether. The broker for Tether is Kanter Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick's firm. So Howard Lutnick or his kids are in charge of Tether, the $200 billion stablecoin company. And Tether is the primary instrument for criminal activity in cryptocurrency.

[Marc Maron]

And who was Howard Ludnick?

[Bill Maher]

Commerce Secretary.

[Marc Maron]

I'm just telling. Oh, sorry.

[Bill Maher]

You know, it's like, sorry, I went deep. I went deep.

[Marc Maron]

I mean, you got. It's. If you don't set up who the bad guy is, we got no show. He's the guy who looks like.

[Bill Maher]

He looks like a kind of a Gordon Gekko.

[Marc Maron]

You know, he's got the. But what's the answer to people who say, well, the dollar isn't real either, because the dollar isn't real either.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, yeah, exactly. The crypto guys, they're like, gotcha, you know?

[Marc Maron]

Well, what is the answer?

[Bill Maher]

All money's made up.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

Money's a social construct.

[Marc Maron]

Right. So what are we doing here?

[Bill Maher]

Just like government and religion? Well, the difference is that our money, the real dollar, is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. But it's also. Where does that full faith and credit come from?

[Marc Maron]

From our work.

[Bill Maher]

From the 300 million Americans who worked their asses off and have contributed over 250 years to this country. And now these crypto guys are saying, oh, no, we can just privatize it, pretend it's a dollar. And basically, as they integrate it into our financial system, what's going to happen is when crypto crashes again, it could take down the entire financial system and we'll end up bailing these fuckers out again.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. I mean, you say it could be as little as 20 individuals who are really profiting from this and everybody else. I mean, millions of people have lost their shirt. Yeah. When they. Yeah, it's an insider trading scam.

[Bill Maher]

Absolutely. I mean, the insiders always win and the general public always loses. On average.

[Marc Maron]

This is just that on steroids.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, exactly. I'm to give you an example. Trump coin, right. His meme coin down 96%. Right. They had all the coins. His followers buy them. They dump on the followers. Now some of them got something out of it. He hosted a dinner for the top investors. So the top investors got to have dinner with the President of the United States.

[Marc Maron]

Well, I have to tell you, that steak is on point. I'm not going to lie. It's probably the best steak I ever had. But. But Every time I hear that, it's crashing. It never does, because that's when other people go, perfect time. Buy low. Now you can get it cheap. So I don't see it ever going away, do you?

[Bill Maher]

I don't see it ever going away. And I'm not saying we should outlaw it. I'm saying the speculative cryptocurrencies, all the currencies where the price can go up and down, you know, Bitcoin, ethereum, Trump coin, Melania Coin, cumrocket, my favorite. All of those should be regulated like securities. This new law that they're about to pass will regulate them like commodities. And the reason that crypto wants this is that it's the smaller, weaker regulatory agency, the CFTC rather than the sec. I know this may sound like a sort of an erudite point, but it's very important. The crypto industry has always wanted the CFTC to be in control. Sam Bankman Fried wanted the CFTC to be in control before he's arrested for running a large fraud. This is regulatory capture. They are deciding what laws they're writing, the laws themselves. How do these laws come into being? The lobbyists sit with the senators and their staffs and write these laws.

[Marc Maron]

It is.

[Bill Maher]

It's just completely outrageous.

[Marc Maron]

All right, man, don't lose your anger, all right? We need it. All right, good. All right, thank you very much. And let's be our panel. Thank you, bro. I appreciate it. All right. Hey. Hi, guys. Okay. He is a New York Times columnist, visiting professor at Lipscomb University, and co host of the podcast Advisory Opinions. David French, back with us. It's been so long. And he's a historian and podcaster whose forthcoming book is called A Fortified History of the World from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age. I'll be the first one to read it. Dan Jones over here. Okay. I gotta say, this China Summit, I feel I was a little disappointed. I always look forward to big summits like this because they're consequential. This didn't look that consequential. Oh, you agree with that? Okay. I mean, maybe it was. I don't know. Maybe things will come out of it. But to me, it looked. Reminded me of 70s 80s sitcoms where they traveled the show to Hawaii, you know, for a week. It's not really different. The Brady Bunch is in Hawaii and Fonzie is water skin, but he's still got the leather jacket on. It's kind of the same bullshit, but in a different locale. Am I wrong?

[David French]

In terms of policy decisions, in terms of big things that came out of it. There's not very much that came out of it. But in terms of its framing as a historical moment, I think that's what, when we look back on it will be very interesting. And you heard all of this from the Chinese side, that this actually is a moment when China's emerging as a superpower, when in Xi's view of the world, this is the east on the rise relative to the west, led by America on the decline.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, we've been hearing that for a long time, and maybe we're at that point now.

[David French]

Well, and Xi makes a case. Well, in 2025, there was a Chinese think tank produced a report which was called thank Trump, which made the case for the decline of the American empire as a response to Trumpian policies. Dumping on your allies, hollowing out the economy, creating a perception that the west is in decline. So that may not necessarily be backed up by the facts of the crown.

[Marc Maron]

Well, our economy is not exactly hollowed out. Right.

[Dan Jones]

Our economy is the envy of the world, and has been for a while now. Not less right now, less in this moment with the Strait of Hormuz closed. But here's the thing. Here's why I think there's such cognitive dissonance that you feel Reagan and Gorbachev, when they're meeting, he's meeting. Reagan's meeting with a peer and a rival. When Nixon and Brezhnev are meeting, they're meeting a peer and a rival. What we're watching here is Trump meeting a peer and a pal. And that is something that is very unusual, especially out of an autocratic, totalitarian country. And the way to think about Trump is to think of it not as, he's not an isolationist, he's a spheres of influence guy. And he looks at the world. Essentially, there's three dudes that matter. Putin, Xi and him. Right? And they divide up the spoils. And so China has its area, Russia has its area. And you wonder why we've been so aggressive towards Canada, towards Mexico, we've been so aggressive towards Cuba and Venezuela. That's our playground. And so that is the way he views the world. And I think he actually walks into a China summit envying Xi because he wants to be like Vladimir Putin. He wants to be like Xi, to have that autonomy, to have that freedom of action that this pesky little separation of powers and federalism and Supreme Court denies him.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, I gotta say, I know what you're talking about, because, gee, now, maybe he's just inscrutable, but he does have a look on his face like, this guy thinks I like him a lot. Like that means anything to me.

[Dan Jones]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And I, and I actually do like him because he is making my life easy. Because like, for example, my country China is leading in wind and this guy for no apparent reason has a huge hard on about wind. So we'll take that one and you know, to the point about are we in decline? It's like so interesting because there's a whole list of things you could say that are so super pro for America and Super Con and the same for China. Like super pro. We're free, but we're also stupid. But our best people are not stupid. We're still a ball and fun place to be. So we got Elon Musk here and we got, you know, the Tech bros. And we got lots of people who are still kicking ass in the world. So I don't know, you know, what I know is like this is in the playoffs of World Dominion. This is the finals, Okay, A lot of countries get in the playoffs. Russia, the eu, but this is the finals. China and America, who's going to win?

[Dan Jones]

Well, speaking of decline, I mean, look at it like this. Decline under Trump is a choice. I mean, this is a country that can still do great things. We just had the Artemis mission. We're about to have this, you know, starship launch. That's a remarkable thing that is accomplished by Americans in America. We can do great things, but what Trump does is it's almost like imagine you're playing the 98 Chicago Bulls and Phil Jackson decides to sit Michael Jordan. Well, that's decline as a choice, right?

[Marc Maron]

Yes.

[Dan Jones]

This is what we are choosing to be weaker. That's what we're choosing. That's not the same thing as decline.

[Marc Maron]

Well, I think the pattern with the President is that he thinks he can get whatever we want by throwing our weight around. I mean, you saw that with Iran, which I thought was a necessary thing to at least try. We're at a different stage now and you're seeing it with China and the trade war that he started and you know, he didn't win that trade war, the tariffs. There's a lot about what we can do to you and very little thought put into, oh, and then what are you going to do to us? Because China didn't back down and neither did Iran.

[David French]

Absolutely. And it's a personal thing. It's, it's not even like what we can do. It's what I can do that everything is seen through the perspective of. I Donald Trump. Whereas, in fact, the history of American dominance and superpower status has been built as a leader of the free world, you know, with these allies under the American umbrella, that when the President walks into a room, he represents the west in general, the free world. And that seems to be shrinking under Trump. I mean, historically, we're starting to see the US through his lens, at any rate, as just being an extension of his own ego, which is in historical terms. I kind of look at someone like Xi. He clearly thinks of himself as a philosopher emperor in the ancient Chinese style. And you look at Trump and see more like a kind of deranged Roman emperor, Nero, or a Caligula.

[Marc Maron]

You know what I mean?

[David French]

The empire is contracted down to bits.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, I guess so. I mean, it seemed. The thing that disappointed me most about the whole thing is that from my way of thinking, the biggest issue with China and Russia, with China and the United States, even bigger than the tariffs, even bigger than Iran, those things will get settled. And I mean, every time we warn about AI and you find very few people who don't think that there is a huge danger there, that it could be literally an extinction level event, they say, yeah, but the other argument is we're in a race with China. So, okay, China gets it, that this could be an extinction level event. We get it. At least a lot of us do. We have to come to some sort of agreement with them so that we're not in this arms race. Here's what Trump said on the way back. We talked about possibly working together for guardrails. That's as good as it got. He said, AI is fantastic. So many things can happen in terms of health, medicine and operations. True. And I'm counting on a lot of them. It's also got some drawbacks. Yes. Like we could all die. So that, to me, was the big disappointment. Disappointment is that we didn't move on. The one really important thing that we have to move on, which is getting some sort of deal with the Chinese about AI before we race each other to death.

[Dan Jones]

Think of it as Nuclear arms race 2.0, just a different version of an extinction level technology that requires serious people who know things to actually sit in a room and to think. Think about this. At the height of the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union were sometimes inches from armed conflict, from open conflict, they were still able to get in a room and make serious agreements to limit the growth of their nuclear arsenals and ultimately to reduce the growth, to reduce the arsenals entirely. We've Got a guy right now who walks in and his version of a deal is just that somebody maybe possibly says something positive and then he announces a deal or he just makes it up entirely. I feel like it's the Baghdad Bob administration. Do you remember Baghdad Bob in 2000, 2003? The Americans are nowhere near. While you hear the gunfire, everything is fine. There's an American tank right across the street. This is Trump. He is constantly promoting deals that don't exist, victories that never happened. The Iran war is a tremendous example of this. He was hyping the results and hyping the results and the reality is turning out to be really, really grim. I've never encountered this in my entire life where look, administrations have lied in the past. This administration lies at industrial scale to the point I didn't know at the height of the Iran war, I didn't know if the Trump administration was more honest or if the Islamic Republic was being more honest. That is a sad, sad statement about America.

[Marc Maron]

And if people don't know why our hair is on fire about this with the AI issue. One of the tech people who I don't think was on the trip is Dario Amodi. He's from Anthropic, they're kind of known now as the AI group with a conscience. He refused to do the government's bidding at some point. This was a big issue a couple of months ago because he said he's not going to give the government his technology unless they agree to not cross two red lines. One was mass domestic surveillance and the other was fully autonomous weapons. In other words, no one in the kill chain. This is what we're worried about when there's no one in the kill chain, when it's just the machines talking to the machines. Yeah, they could make that decision, but not how they're programmed. Like, oh, these people were misgendering. They all have to die.

[David French]

But here's the problem when you view AI purely as a profit opportunity, and that seems to have been the purpose on the China visit, is, well, we're going to take Nvidia because we want to make a deal that involves X number of billions that I can announce it on Air Force One or not. And that strips away from the AI question. Everything that you're talking about and you're talking about, which is that this is way more than just a fuel for the economy. This is an extinction level, existential level issue that requires grown up leadership. As you say, David, on the level that we last seen saw in trying to limit nuclear arms and at the moment, that's not there.

[Marc Maron]

And to make it even more complicated, the chips that run everything, where do they come from? Taiwan.

[Bill Maher]

Right, right.

[Marc Maron]

Taiwan, which is what I mean. Xi had one major message to Trump. Despite all the flattery and all the children and all the flags, what he was saying was, that's Chinese territory. It always has been. I know you guys talk two sides of your mouths about it. You don't really say you're going to come to Taiwan's defense, but you don't say you don't. If you want to see me mad, give more weapons to Taiwan or come to the defense of Taiwan. So the place that gives us the chips that power, the stuff that would allow us to fight Taiwan, to fight China, come from the place that China wants to take over, what's going to happen with that?

[Dan Jones]

I mean, look, that's core national security interest right there. These chips being made in Taiwan. What have we done? We have delayed a $15 billion arms package to Taiwan. I thought we were in the middle of this pivot to Asia, that one of the reasons why we're moving people out of Europe, which, by the way, we just torpedoed, blindsided the polls by removing a brigade of American troops without really notifying them in advance. That's a diplomatic crisis right now. So here you have Taiwan. We were supposed to pivot to China to be stronger towards China. Well, we delay $15 billion to Taiwan. Trump's statements regarding Taiwan are weaker than President Biden's statements regarding Taiwan. Right now, if I'm China, I would think there is a very good chance that Donald Trump would not lift a finger to defend Taiwan. And the main deterrent against China right now is the revolution and warfare that I don't think they could survive a drone swarm attacking across the Straits of Taiwan, across the straits. So it's a terrible situation right now,

[Marc Maron]

and we're a little weapons depleted because we use so many of them in the Iranian situation.

[David French]

And we're also a little reason depleted because once you start to reduce Taiwan to a matter of semiconductors and chips and take away the big reasons for defending Taiwan also used to include we defend democracies around the world, that we defend our allies around the world, that there's a strategic interest in this line that runs down from Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines, and these all mattered, and these were part of America's virtue in the world. And once all that starts to be jettisoned and allies matter less, and it comes down to just a matter of chips, if, God forbid, If we have to go to war over Taiwan, how do you make that case? I mean, as Trump came back today said, I'm not interested in a war. 9,500 miles away. Oh really?

[Marc Maron]

That's how far Taiwan is. How far is Iran? 7,000.

[David French]

7,000 miles away?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, 7,507 is good, but not nine and a half. Yeah. Eczema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with ebglis, a once monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema after an initial four month or longer dosing phase. About 4 in 10 people taking EBGLIS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

[Dan Jones]

HempGlass Lebricizumab LBKZ, a 250mg injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to ebglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Eglis before starting ebglis. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

[Marc Maron]

Ask your doctor about eglis and visit eglis.lilly.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979.

[Dan Jones]

You thought this was your Run Club era.

[Marc Maron]

Turns out it was more of a thinking about Run Club Era.

[Bill Maher]

The good news? Someone's marathon training is about to start.

[Marc Maron]

Sell your workout gear on Depop. Just snap a few photos and we'll

[Bill Maher]

take care of the rest. They get their race day fit and

[Marc Maron]

you get a payout for trying. Someone on Depop wants what you've got. Start selling now. Depop, where taste recognizes taste. When you finally find your thing, you want the whole world to know about that thing. So you use a thing called Canva to make it an even bigger and better thing. Whether you want to create flyers for that thing, make presentations for that thing, or design merch for that thing, you can do anything so people can see your thing, feel your thing, love your thing. The Next thing you know, it's a thing. Canva. The thing that makes anything a thing. Okay, well, there are other news stories I want to get to. One is very important. It is the cruise ship industry, which there's been a lot of news about. All good? No. There was this hantavirus that broke out on this cruise ship. And before that there was the norovirus. And before that. I want to get this right so I don't get sued by my former employee. Disney. 27 cruise ship workers, including some from the Disney Cruise Line, were deported after having engaged with child pornography. Okay, so I've never been a fan of the cruise ships. But they know where they are now with the public as far as their image goes. So they're kind of embracing it. You gotta lean into it. Would you like to see some of the posters that the. I thought you might. For example, Carnival Cruises Test positive for fun. The Cunard cruise line. We're pretty sure chlorine kills all the bad stuff. The Viking River Cruise, no questions asked. When your spouse goes missing. Holland America, our service is number one. Our floors are flooded with number two. Well, they've got to make the best of it. You know, Disney bring the kids and share touching moments. Resorts World answering the question. What if Florida could float? Region seven seas. What you call being quarantined, we call extending your stay. Disney eat kids free. Wait, we mean kids eat free. Royal Caribbean. Vomiting gives you abs. Well, that's. And Princess Cruises. At least you're not in the Strait of Hormuz. Okay, so. Let us give the public the information here. The risk, says Dr. David Fritter, the incident manager at the CDC. The risk to general population remains low. Now, two things here. One, that's exactly what they said about COVID And two, I don't know who Dr. David Fitter is. He's at the CDC. I don't know if he's one of RFK's. You know, RFK says you can ward it off by blowing a dead raccoon. So I. I don't know who. I don't know who Dr. David Fitter is. Maybe he's an old school guy who we can trust. I don't know anymore. And that's part of the problem is that on both sides sides of the equation, the public does not have any trust anymore. Or some trust. But not as they used to in the cdc. And in what the government is telling you about pandemics. What do we do about that? You and I could nerd out about the Justinian Plague and The bubonic plague. Because I love to talk medieval plagues. I would.

[David French]

I do, too.

[Marc Maron]

I know, but let's save that for the end of the discussion and talk about the 1. What do you think? Are you nervous? Do you think this is something to worry about? Is it a repeat of COVID or is it a big.

[Dan Jones]

I'm not nervous based on the available information, but here's what I am a little bit nervous about, is that we'll go into this other. Another cycle where public health officials just won't level with us. They won't do things like say, we don't know. And instead what they'll say is the words that they feel necessary to manipulate us into a particular decision set. Just say what you know. And if you don't know something, say, we don't know. And I think looking back on Covid, and I know nobody likes to look back on Covid, that's one of the original sins, is I feel like we were in many ways manipulated. Do this, and it will achieve this outcome. When really what they were doing is they were guessing. This is our best guess with an unknown and new disease. And they were far more authoritative than the evidence allowed them to be. And that's a reason why a lot of people don't trust anyone.

[Marc Maron]

And they said a lot of things that did not turn out to be true, and they squelched a lot of opinions that turned out to be true. I mean, I do like to look back on Covid because I do think I was kind of right about it. You know, I never wanted that particular vaccine for that particular disease, which I thought my own immune system could handle, and I bet it could. But I said a million times, another one that could come along, I would fight you for the vaccine. I said that over and over. This is that one.

[David French]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Because this Honta one, it's harder to get. But I have to tell you, if you do get it, don't buy any green bananas. So this one, I want to be first online. But you cried wolf with the other one, with the mask and the distancing and the pretending that natural immunity didn't count anymore. All of this bullshit. It goes into it, the equation, when you cry wolf like that.

[David French]

Yeah, I mean, of course it does. And without going all the way back to Justinian. There was a probable hantavirus in the 16th, 17th century called the sweating sickness, which had a 30 to 50% lethality rate and killed you in two days. Give me the green banana. Give me the raccoon. If you have to like, I will,

[Bill Maher]

I will do anything.

[David French]

But you're absolutely right. I mean, the level of public trust that was eroded by over stringent lockdowns, by forcing people to take a vaccine whether they needed it or not, whether they wanted it or not, will come back. Let's hope this is not the next pandemic. But if there's another pandemic anytime soon, it will come back. And then the blame can only be leveled at the officials and the governments that made such crazy policy in Covid in the first place.

[Marc Maron]

You know what's also so annoying is that we didn't learn anything about what causes this to begin with. Which, excuse me, Peter, board member, but it's because we treat animals the wrong way. All these things arise from animals. This thing, I think started because people were sightseeing on a landfill, right? Oh, who wouldn't want to do that? Who doesn't want to go and stand knee deep in sheep to watch a seagull eat a corn chip off a used condom? What a great way to spend your cruise. So these idiots get it. But it's factory farming. It's keeping animals in a state that makes them sick. And then we get sick from them. Bird flu, sars, all these things come from swine flu. It all comes from animals. And we never learned that lesson. And we haven't done a thing about it. Not a thing about factory farming.

[David French]

I mean, there was a time, you know, these plagues that came from rats back in the day, where there wasn't really a choice. The way of life meant that you lived amongst vermin and rodents, and that was everybody sort of doing their best. But now we have the knowledge of that and we have the ability to say, hey, you know what? The way that the food chain is set up is predisposed to create conditions that may lead to pandemics. Or the way that we're testing, we're testing gain of function in viruses. This is dangerous to public health. I mean, everybody knows this and still we keep doing it.

[Marc Maron]

You know what my celebrity fake name is when I check into a. Well, I guess I blew it now. Well, I'll get a new one. But when I check into a hotel, you know, you have to use a fake name. Eusebius Pestis.

[Dan Jones]

That's a deep poll.

[Marc Maron]

You know what?

[David French]

That escalator, the name of the becelus that caused the Black Death, that is

[Marc Maron]

bubonic plague, Eusebius Pestis. I think it's a great name. It sounds really cool. I've never been more impressed. Wow. Well, I mean, on the issue of, like, are we in decline? This is kind of another way which I think China thinks we're in decline, in which it's one point on that scorecard that we don't even have the trust of our own people. I know China thinks that we're in decline partly because we don't like each other. There was a study that came out recently. This is. Of all 25 countries in the world they surveyed, we're the only ones where the people in the country think the other people in the country are shit. Yeah. Do you know the study I'm talking about?

[Dan Jones]

I know all about this study and some of the other countries where people liked each other more than America. They were actually involved in some civil strife. So, like, they're shooting each other and liking each other more than we do. So this is. This is. I'm so glad we're talking about this, because if you want to know what is ailing our politics, this is a big, big part of it. Not long ago, there was a study called the Belonging Index that was done to ask Americans did they feel accepted in their communities, in their jobs and their families, et cetera? And the answer was, an overwhelming majority of Americans just don't feel like they belong in this country. And they feel like they've been rejected.

[Marc Maron]

They don't. Or other people.

[Dan Jones]

No. They lack a sense of belonging, of acceptance. When I say not that they need to leave, but in other words, that they don't feel accepted in their own communities and their own workplaces. And the people who lack that sense of belonging, what are some characteristics they share? Well, they're less committed to democracy, for example. They have less openness to being around people from different backgrounds. If you want to heal a lot of what's wrong with this country, actually be kind to other human beings to make them feel like they have a place here, and they're going to be less drawn to extremism, believe it or not. I'm going to sound like a kindergarten teacher right now, Bill. I'm going to say, you want to know how to help heal our country? Make a friend. But specifically, try to make friends in the communities that don't feel like they belong in this country. And you're going to go a long

[Marc Maron]

way to healing this place. Yeah, but that sounds like it's all happening on one side. It's happening on the other side, too. Yes. Everywhere. There are people in ICE who make people who are in this country, who have every right to be in this country not feel like they should belong.

[Dan Jones]

Absolutely.

[Marc Maron]

And there's also people on the left who won't invite their own relative to Thanksgiving. So it's not a one way thing.

[Dan Jones]

It's a bipartisan issue. And it's also connected to the lack of friendship, especially amongst men and working class men. A shocking percentage of men right now have no friends at all. No close friends at all. And those people are more drawn to extremism. They're both on right and left.

[Marc Maron]

That's why I do all male shows. These guys need a place to.

[Dan Jones]

We're part of the solution.

[David French]

Part of the solution.

[Marc Maron]

I'm trying.

[David French]

You know, this is also a story about cell phones, right? This is also a technological story. It is the hybridization of machine mind and human mind is very far advanced through the phone industry. Your pocket. And the negativity that runs throughout social media is now manifesting in the way that people react with each other. They silo themselves through staring at a screen like this. It's easier to do this than to talk to the people around you. This is driving you towards polarity of thought, towards insularity of community. And you end up not talking to real people and never having your views on other people challenged. And this deep feeling of isolation, a lot of it's springing from this. And this is. This is a civilizational revolution and the economy.

[Marc Maron]

Because I read the American Enterprise Institute just told us that 25% of young people, only 25% talk to their neighbor. I think this is a lot having to do with the income inequality. Either your upper middle class, which we reported recently, way better than they used to do, three times the upper middle class than there was in 1980. That's a lot of fairly rich people, but they live in McMansions, they have gates and walls and, you know, lots of room. So you don't have to talk to those neighbors. I sure don't talk to mine. I mean, I would, but we just don't see each other. Okay. And then if you're poor, you're on top of each other and one man's ceiling is another man's floor. And you fucking hate these people because you smell their farts and you hear their fights. You know.

[Dan Jones]

You know, one thing that's. I'm so glad you brought up the economy as well, because there's a statistic that I think is very alarming. Top 10% of Americans in income now account for majority of all consumer spending. So what that means is the entire economy is warping for the most wealthy 10%. These are just companies acting in their rational economic interests. And so what it creates, to use like an airline boarding group analogy, is like a Group 1 economy when most of us have Group 9 incomes. And that doesn't work for people. It just doesn't.

[Marc Maron]

All right, thank you guys. This was a real pleasure. Time for new rules, everybody. New rules. Okay, new rule. Before Amazon sells me a hyper realistic $99 cement log, they have to tell me what makes it better than a log. I guess because it's cement, it's a little more durable than a piece of wood. But if it's only better because it's more indestructible, why do I need the three year protection plan? New old Gen Z can't seriously believe. It's a scary microaggression when a boomer puts punctuation at the end of a text. Kids, have you read the news in the last few years? Republicans seem determined to completely ban abortion everywhere. But the period you're worried about is at the end of a sentence. Since people from around the globe are about to descend on Los Angeles for the World cup, we have to change our motto from we are Los Angeles to Los Angeles. It wasn't always like this, You know, just. Just a little something to prepare our foreign friends when they get here and think. Ay, karamba. This looked different on Baywatch. Nero, now that your religious questions can be answered by an AI rabbi, an AI imam and an AI priest threatening the jobs of clergy members worldwide, we have to ask the question now. Who's going to do horrible things to children? I'm kidding. We still have the music industry. New rule. Next time a president dozes off at a public event, someone has to draw dick on his forehead. Do I have to explain how America works? We don't do siestas here. You can either grab a cup of coffee and get back to work or we will replace you with younger Latino workers. And finally, new rules. Since yesterday was Israel's birthday, having become A Nation on May 14, 78 years ago, everyone must either wish her a happy birthday or admit they're anti Semitic. Now it's everyone's right in a free country to be anti Semitic. But enough with hiding behind Israel or Zionism or Netanyahu. If you think as so many do now, that when it comes to human rights, Israel is the monster country of all time. You either don't to want read or you don't care about your own hypocrisy because there are so many worse places. But that's where we are these days. No Jews, no news. Ha ha. But China, Russia, Sudan, Iran, Myanmar, Haiti, the Congo, North Korea, all way worse. And that's how you know it's anti Semitism. It's the inconsistency. People talk about Jews these days like something out of Stormfront. Except it's not Stormfront. It's an editor from the American Prospect, which is a venerable liberal publication that launched the careers of journalists like Ezra Klein. And yet no one blinks when one of their editors says Israel is a brainwashed, psychopathic death cult that might need to be nuked to save the human race. Uh huh. People say the left and the right can't agree on anything these days. Well, there is this one thing they agree on. Right winger Tucker Carlson has Nick Fuentes and Holocaust deniers on his podcast and wonders along with them who really was the bad guy in World War II. And the new York Times has on their podcast super leftist Hasan Piker, who they call a progressive mind and who says Zionists should be treated the same as Nazis, which I assume means hung at Nuremberg. That's what progressive is now, I guess. So the kids are sure into it. They went nuts last year at Coachella for Kneecap. That's the name of an Irish rap group. As if Ireland hasn't suffered enough, Their stage set is a sign that says Fuck Israel. And then they send a beach ball around the crowd again, Ha ha. Because again, Israel is the only country in the world doing anything bad. I see why the meathead manosphere and the Code Pink people are on the same page. Because they both went to high school and they don't know anything. So we really could someday soon have the Tiki torch. Jews will not replace us crowd and the Queers for Palestine people working together to elect the next Hitler. There's a North Carolina teenager who's been charged with plotting to drive through a synagogue to fulfill her life goal of killing as many Jews as possible. Because a kid's got to have a dream. I'm just asking, why in the world would this be the dream of some kid in North Carolina? Why is it the dream of Dan Bilzerian, who's running as a Republican to win a House seat in Florida? Who's Dan Bilzerian? Well, he's a professional douchebag who's attracted 30 million followers by doing this all day and posting it. Yes, he'll fit in fine with the current Congress. And Dan is fairly typical of the guys in the manosphere when he says, the only real battle in the world today that I see worth Fighting is fucking, you know, extreme. Exterminating Israel. I mean, I would sign up tomorrow to go fucking put boots on the ground and go fucking kill Israelis. Why? Why is this asshole's life about 2 getting more Viagra and exterminating the Jews. Israel was founded on the idea that anti Semitism made a Jewish state unnecessary because Jews would never be safe without one. Can you honestly listen to this rhetoric and not see why that turned out to be true? If you don't have the right wingers on your side and you don't have the progressives, what do you have? What's more progressive than college, where professors now say things that would make Kanye wince? Osman Umgarji calls Zionists bloodthirsty animals. Who is he, the leader of isis? No, he's a professor right here in California at UC Irvine. And Candace Owens agrees with his assessment of Jews as animals because she says wherever they go, they bring their filth with them. Another professor, Hamid Debashi, says of Israel's they have a vulgarity of character that is bone deep and structural to the skeletal vertebrae of its culture. These are the kind of statements Goebbels would have read and said, no notes. I mean, where are the Jewish space lasers when you need them? Now, there are absolutely horrible things said about Muslims too, that should also be, of course, roundly condemned. Like Republican Congressman Randy Fine saying, if they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one. That's awful. But it's not the same as they need to be nuked and let's exterminate them. This is why Jewish people here and in Europe now say they sometimes hide their identity, afraid that the Star of David will get them attacked, as has happened in almost too many places to mention lately. Leave your Star of David at home. But the Kephaiah, you can wear that anywhere. You can wear it to Fiddler on the Roof and you'll get applause. Jew hatred isn't just acceptable now. It's cool, celebrities love it and make it trendy. It's the new Che Guevara T shirt. The Islamophobia is just as bad argument is simply a false equivalency. Can you name a Jewish professor who talks about Muslims the way they get talked about? No. Anti Jewish crimes hate crimes now outpace anti Muslim hate crimes nine to one. It's not a contest, and I'm certainly not saying do more of the other. I'm just saying these are the numbers, the facts, the reality. There is a frothing anxiousness for the literal extermination of this one group. And Democrats, where are you? If any other minority group was being talked about this way, you'd break out the Kenta cloth and have 10 benefit concerts. But because you see that so many of you are brainwashed by TikTok constituents now have an unfavorable view of Israel. You indulge them when you should be correcting them. You don't tell your woke idiots Israel isn't a colonizer or an apartheid state or committing genocide and that if you brats had to spend a week anywhere in the Middle east other than Israel, you would understand what liberalism is. Not all the people likely running for president now on the Democratic side want it known they don't take money from aipac, the Israeli lobby, a stanch which gives permission to actual anti Semites to say see, we're right about Israel. That's a dirty money from a dirty country. Oh please. You take money from crypto and factory farmers and big tech from Diddy and Weinstein and Epstein, but AIPAC is too far. Let me just say this to all who ask me, why are you harder on the Democrats than you used to be? Until you fix this whole issue, stop asking me. Thank you very much. That's our show. We're off next week and back on the 29th. I want to thank David French, Dan Jones and Ben McKenzie Club random drops every Monday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen. Thank you.

[Dan Jones]

Catch all new episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher every Friday night at 10 or watch him anytime on HBO on Demand. For more information, log on to hbo.com Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with

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