Overtime – Episode #695: David Hogg, Donna Brazile, Rep. Mike Lawler

Summary

Real Time with Bill Maher: Overtime – Episode #695 Summary

Release Date: May 13, 2025

Guests:

• David Hogg - DNC Vice Chair
• Donna Brazile - Political Strategist and ABC News Contributor
• Rep. Mike Lawler - Republican Congressman from New York

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1. Disney’s New Theme Park in Abu Dhabi

Timestamp: 01:05 - 01:54

The episode opens with Bill Maher discussing Disney's latest venture: its first new theme park in 15 years, located in Abu Dhabi. Maher expresses mixed feelings about the move, highlighting the juxtaposition of the "happiest place on earth" being established in an oil-rich autocracy.

Bill Maher (01:20):

"Mickey and Minnie should be available to everybody. I'm all about American brands being in a global space."

David Hogg (01:54):

"Yeah, I do too."

Maher humorously recounts his first theme park experience, emphasizing his affection for Mickey Mouse despite the park’s location.

2. Trump’s Proposal to Reopen Alcatraz as a Federal Prison

Timestamp: 03:41 - 06:26

The conversation shifts to former President Donald Trump's controversial suggestion to transform Alcatraz Island back into a federal prison. The panelists dissect the feasibility and implications of such a proposal.

David Hogg (03:41):

"We shouldn't make policy from watching TV, should we? I mean, it's plain. He was."

Mike Lawler (04:34):

"The bigger issue is holding criminals accountable across our country when they're actually breaking the law."

Hogg criticizes the idea as impractical and a distraction from more pressing criminal justice issues. Lawler agrees, emphasizing the need to focus on reducing recidivism and improving accountability rather than symbolic gestures like reopening Alcatraz.

Donna Brazile (06:28):

"Private prison groups are funding people's campaigns and incentivizing keeping these people in prison, which costs us billions."

Brazile brings attention to the influence of private prisons in politics, arguing that their financial contributions to campaigns hinder meaningful regulation and reform.

3. The Role of Private Prisons in the Criminal Justice System

Timestamp: 05:00 - 06:26

The panel delves deeper into the debate surrounding private prisons. Brazile critiques the profit-driven motives behind private incarceration, while Lawler defends public-private partnerships in prison operations, provided they enforce the law effectively.

Mike Lawler (05:28):

"The bigger issue to me is criminals being released back out onto the street to reoffend."

Lawler shifts the focus to systemic issues like high recidivism rates and poor policy decisions that lead to increased crime rates, rather than solely blaming private prisons.

Donna Brazile (06:28):

"Even though that's super important, just economically, it's costing us billions of dollars."

Brazile underscores the economic burden of maintaining private prisons and their detrimental impact on policy-making.

4. Internal Dynamics and Future of the Democratic Party

Timestamp: 07:30 - 12:27

The discussion transitions to internal challenges within the Democratic Party, including speculation about Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego's potential presidential run and the party's handling of identity politics.

David Hogg (07:30):

"Isn't that the problem Democrats keep making over and over, that it's always more identity politics."

Maher emphasizes the necessity for the Democratic Party to balance its progressive values with effective leadership.

Bill Maher (08:11):

"If I had to come back on this earth tomorrow, I would still be a Democrat. Because of our values..."

Brazile addresses the DNC's gender balance rules, advocating for merit-based leadership over strict adherence to diversity quotas.

Donna Brazile (10:16):

"I want to focus on whoever's just best at the job."

Rep. Lawler supports the primaries and highlights the emergence of younger leaders like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) as pivotal in shaping the party's future.

Mike Lawler (10:31):

"AOC will absolutely kick Chuck Schumer's ass in a primary. She is the leader of the Democratic Party in this moment."

The panelists discuss the tension between established leadership and emerging progressive figures, stressing the importance of aligning party policies with the constituents' needs.

5. Constituent Representation and Political Accountability

Timestamp: 11:09 - 12:27

The conversation shifts to the responsibility of elected officials to their constituents over personal ambitions. Brazile emphasizes that political seats belong to the people, not the politicians themselves.

Donna Brazile (11:53):

"That seat is not yours. It is your constituents. That is who you're there to serve."

Maher commends David Hogg for his role in challenging the status quo within the party, highlighting the importance of fresh perspectives in politics.

Bill Maher (12:00):

"If David takes that spirit on the DNC, I'll vote for his ass again."

6. Closing Remarks

Timestamp: 12:27 - 13:17

As the discussion wraps up, Maher expresses appreciation for having David Hogg at the table, acknowledging the significance of youth and activism in shaping American politics.

David Hogg (13:17):

"Let's leave it there. Thank you very much everybody. Appreciate you."

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Conclusion

Episode #695 of Real Time with Bill Maher delves into critical discussions surrounding the criminal justice system, the influence of private prisons, and the internal dynamics of the Democratic Party. Through insightful dialogue, the panelists highlight the need for substantive policy reforms and authentic representation in politics. Notable moments include harsh critiques of policy influenced by profit motives and a strong advocacy for aligning political leadership with constituent needs over entrenched interests.

Key Takeaways:

• Criminal Justice Reform: Emphasis on reducing recidivism and holding criminals accountable rather than symbolic gestures.
• Private Prisons: Critical examination of their economic and political influence undermining meaningful reform.
• Democratic Party Dynamics: Importance of balancing progressive values with effective, merit-based leadership.
• Political Accountability: Elected officials must prioritize constituents' needs over personal ambitions or party interests.

This episode offers a comprehensive look into pressing political issues, underscored by passionate arguments for systemic change and genuine representation.

Transcript

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[Bill Maher]

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[Kaley Cuoco]

Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO late night series Real Time with Bill Maher.

[David Hogg]

All right, he is the DNC's vice chair, David Hogg. He is the Republican congressman from New York, Mike Lawler. And she's the political strategist and ABC News contributor, Donna Brazile, and the maker of Gumbo. All right, these are from the people. Disney's building its new first theme park in 15 years in Abu Dhabi. Wow. What does it say that the happiest place on earth is now an oil rich autocracy?

[Bill Maher]

That's good. I mean, Mickey and Minnie should be available to everybody. What's wrong with that? I'm all about, you know, making sure that American products, American brands and everything else that we're able to be in a global space. And besides, what, kid? I mean, I love Mickey. You know, when I first went to a theme park, I went out and got me some dishes. I thought. Thought they were real. So. I love Mickey.

[David Hogg]

Yeah, I do too.

[Bill Maher]

All right. Are you gonna go?

[David Hogg]

No, I'll be with you. No, I'll be your day. No, I'm just wondering if we're gonna have the gay days thing just like they do in Orlando there in Abu Dhabi. I wonder how that's gonna go.

[Bill Maher]

That's not gonna. They'll skip that one.

[David Hogg]

Okay.

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[Mike Lawler]

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[David Hogg]

The panel make of the reaction to Trump suggesting we should reopen Alcatraz as a federal prison? No, no.

[Mike Lawler]

I will say two of the best movies of all time are Escape from Alcatraz and the Rock. Great movies.

[David Hogg]

I know, but we shouldn't make policy from watching tv, should we? I mean, it's plain. He was.

[Mike Lawler]

I mean, I mean, isn't that often what happens?

[David Hogg]

No. Really? Oh, I mean, okay. And look, is it a big issue? No. First of all, it's probably never going to happen. I also must say, you know, I'm tired of hearing how this is the can't do country. No. Should we open Alcatraz? There's no reason to do it. But I heard the immediate reaction was, it's impossible. It's impossible because it's broken down.

[Donna Brazile]

It's just stupid.

[David Hogg]

It's just stupid. But also, like, it's not impossible if you really wanted to do it. Like, you know, it's not the Manhattan Project.

[Mike Lawler]

The bigger issue is not actually opening up Alcatraz. The bigger issue is holding criminals accountable across our country when they're actually breaking the law. And that is something that I think, you know, as a New York representative, where crime has gone up significantly. You're down in Washington, D.C. we see it a lot as well. That is the bigger issue and the bigger debate to have about how to deal with actual crime in this country as opposed to reopening Alcatraz.

[Donna Brazile]

Well, can I ask you this, Congressman? You know, a lot of the people that are being put in these detention centers, they're run by private Prisons. Do you think that private prisons are something that we should have in this country?

[David Hogg]

Good question.

[Donna Brazile]

You know, like, I don't think that we should be having a system that is incentivized to keep people there. Of course we need to make sure we're keeping everybody safe. But I don't want to have a system where we literally have a prison industrial complex that is incentivizing, keeping people incarcerated at costs.

[Mike Lawler]

There's no question you can have reform with respect to that.

[Donna Brazile]

Should we have them, though?

[Mike Lawler]

I don't have a problem with a public private partnership in terms of actually dealing with the operations of a prison. But the issue, to me, it's not problematic. It is actually enforcing the law. If you look at a state like New York where the recidivism rate on people who are being arrested for felonies and then being released under cashless bail, it is over 50%. That's insane. You're putting violent felons back out on the street only to reoffend. Kathy hochul just fired 2000 prisoner Corrections officers and as a result is now releasing prisoners out onto the streets. That is stupid policy. So look, we can have a debate. And I, as a member of the state legislature, had no problem with dealing with some of the issues pertaining to for profit prisons. But at the end of the day, the bigger issue to me is criminals being released back out onto the street to reoffend.

[David Hogg]

But there are two different issues. I don't know why we're not.

[Mike Lawler]

But we're not dealing with it. That's part of the problem.

[David Hogg]

Well, we're not dealing with.

[Bill Maher]

We're not dealing with a lot of issues.

[Donna Brazile]

What really concerns me is like we are literally a lot of these private prison groups are literally funding people's campaigns and incentivizing keeping these people in prison, which costs us. Putting aside the moral side of things, let's leave that aside for now. Even though that's super important, just economically, it's costing us billions of dollars. And then they're using that money to help fund the campaigns of the people who refuse to regulate them. And it's a huge problem.

[Mike Lawler]

Well, that's true of any industry in America where people are investing billions of dollars into campaigns just like immigration.

[Bill Maher]

We need a comprehensive approach to crime. Immigration. How are we going to grow a 21st century economy? How are we going to advance science, and how are we going to be a 21st century superpower when we're making some dumb, stupid moves? Right? And Congress, as you said earlier, Congress cannot see it. As Article 1 powers, you must provide the checks and balances. And we can't just detain people and open up new prisons without due process and a rule of law. America has standards and values, and we have somehow forgotten that. That's what I'm saying.

[David Hogg]

Okay. What do you think of the speculation that Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego may enter the 2028 presidential race? Would a Latino candidate help bring back a key part of the Democratic base? I mean, I feel like this is the problem Democrats keep making over and over, that it's always more identity politics. Didn't you have a fight? One of your controversies, wasn't it that you ran against somebody who was Native American and they complained about it. And it sounded to me. Now, maybe I didn't get all the information, it sounded to me like she just lost to you, but then that wasn't good. And this is the Democratic Party. Isn't that the Republican.

[Bill Maher]

No, no, Bill. We're not a perfect party. We got a lot of shit within us, and we have to clean up our own mess. But I tell you one thing, if I had to come back on this earth tomorrow, I would still be a Democrat. Because of our values, we fight like hell sometimes. We never make love at night because we fight like hell. But we have good moral standards. And you're right, we did spend a great part of this last century dealing with, oh, you're black, you're gay, you're a woman. What? God damn it, What?

[Donna Brazile]

So what are you good at? Your job? That's what I care about.

[Mike Lawler]

That's fundamental. Fundamentally, we're over there.

[Bill Maher]

Let's move on.

[Mike Lawler]

Fundamentally, Donald Trump made inroads with nearly every single group in the country, and it was primarily driven by issues, by substantive issues on the economy and the border. So I don't think it's a function of. Let's pick which race or ethnicity or religion or gender. That's not the problem. It is the substance of the issues and what you're going to do to fix it.

[Bill Maher]

So Rubin is a great guy. He will make a wonderful president if he chooses to. He just got elected to the Senate, so maybe he should stay there for a little bit and let a little grass grow underneath.

[David Hogg]

What is the deal on the woman who attacked you because you beat her at that job? Did you beat her fair and square? Was there any fire there?

[Donna Brazile]

There was the election that the DNC held, and I was the person that was one of the people that won one of the three positions that they had for the at large vice chair.

[David Hogg]

So what was her claim?

[Donna Brazile]

Part of the claim. So I don't. Not to bore people, but to get into the bureaucracy of the dnc. We have a gender balance rule at the dnc because of course we do. Equal balance.

[David Hogg]

Okay.

[Mike Lawler]

See, right away, by the way, the Republican Party does, too. If the chair is a male, then the vice chair has to be a female.

[Donna Brazile]

Well, what's interesting is that's even more progressive than our vision, which is that the chair doesn't count towards the gender balance rule that we have. Frankly, I don't even know if it makes sense for us to have the gender balance rule anymore in this day and age, because I want to focus on whoever's just best at the job.

[David Hogg]

Great.

[Donna Brazile]

At this point, that's my own view.

[David Hogg]

Terrific.

[Mike Lawler]

By the way, I support what you're doing with respect to the primaries because I can tell you, having been in politics for quite a while, started as an intern for McCain. Some of these people don't know when it's time to go.

[Donna Brazile]

They don't.

[Mike Lawler]

Chuck Schumer has been in elected office for 50 years. 1974, he was first elected. 50 years. AOC will absolutely kick his ass in a primary. She is the leader of the Democratic Party in this moment and will continue to be, I think, the biggest driver of where the party goes from a governmental policy standpoint. And that drives many of my colleagues crazy. But the fact is she has tapped into the base of support within the Democratic Party, and you see the juxtaposition between her and Chuck Schumer. I'm writing a strongly worded letter. Oh, sit the fuck down, Chuck. It's time.

[David Hogg]

That's why you won in that district that you. That's why you won.

[Bill Maher]

Purple as they come.

[David Hogg]

Well, right, because the people, they didn't want to vote for Donald Trump, but they're not out there on the far left either.

[Mike Lawler]

No, they want balance. They want common sense. They want people who are serious about getting the job done for my district. My biggest issue, lifting the cap on salt and providing real tax relief to people protecting critical services like Medicaid. And we're going through this debate, and I'm fighting with leadership and I'm fighting with the administration to make sure we don't gut these vital programs. That's what people want. They just want you to do the damn job and go home and get out the way.

[Bill Maher]

Get out the way.

[David Hogg]

All right, what is it?

[Donna Brazile]

There's one thing I wanted to talk about, too, which is a little bit of what you just talked about, which is There have been a few members that have come out that have said, well, you know, if I retire, my life is effectively over. And what I would say is get over yourself. This isn't about you. This is about our country and it's about your constituents. Nobody is in. I don't care if you've been there for decades or just one term. That seat is not yours. It is your constituents. That is who you're there to serve. And if they choose to serve somebody else, so be it. That's all we're trying to do with leaders we deserve is give people the option to vote for somebody that isn't necessarily the same person that they're And.

[Bill Maher]

Bill, let me just let me applaud one thing. I'm glad that David is at the table. You know, I've been at the table a long time and I love being at the table because it took me a hell of a long time to get in and to get a seat. And once I got a seat and got my folding chair, I was ready, I was set. And I there comes a day when you can't stir every pot and you're going to have to get the mm, mm out. And I'm glad that David is throwing a rock inside the party. All I would like to advise David is my 25 year old March on Washington king holiday free Nelson Mandela self. Call me what the hell you please, but I know what I did when I was his age. I wanted to have a role in American politics. I want to care about my country, I want to love my country and I want to give back what my country gave to me. And, and if David takes that spirit on the dnc, I'll vote for his ass again.

[David Hogg]

Let's leave it there. Thank you very much everybody. Appreciate you.

[Kaley Cuoco]

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.