Real Time with Bill Maher: Overtime – Episode #717

Guests: Joe Scarborough, Marjorie Taylor Greene
Date: February 3, 2026

Episode Overview

In this Overtime segment, Bill Maher hosts a spirited roundtable with Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC’s "Morning Joe," and former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The trio dives into a variety of hot-button issues—celebrity endorsements in politics, the rise in measles cases and vaccine debates, America’s foreign policy focus, the state of political discourse (and dysfunction) in Congress, and the importance of maintaining perspective and dialogue even amidst fierce disagreement.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Nicki Minaj, Trump, and Celebrity Political Endorsements

[01:02–01:55]

• Discussion opens around Nicki Minaj bragging about receiving a gold card from Donald Trump and declaring herself his number one fan.
• Greene admits to enjoying Nicki Minaj’s music, defying some assumptions about her tastes.
  • Greene: “I like her music.” [01:02]
  • Scarborough: “People just didn’t know you, Marjorie. They didn’t know.” [01:04]
• Debate on whether Minaj’s fanbase will accept her support of Trump.
• Maher questions the validity of the “gold card,” suggesting it isn’t as significant as Minaj might think.

2. Vaccines, Measles, and RFK Jr.

[01:55–08:49]

• Measles cases hit a 30-year high; the panel debates the influence of anti-vax voices like RFK Jr.
  • Maher: “It’s insanity. His kids all had the four, five, six vaccines. We all had the vaccines.” [02:25]
• Greene defends parental choice on vaccines, opposes government mandates.
  • Greene: “I totally believe in parents' rights to choose to vaccinate or not... I don’t think the government should mandate.” [03:05]
• Maher highlights that widespread vaccination once eradicated diseases in even the poorest U.S. states.
  • Maher: “Some of the poorest states in America actually wiped out diseases… because they had the most stringent requirements.” [03:27]
• Greene raises (debunked) vaccine-autism theory, citing parental concerns.
  • Greene: “A lot of parents think that [autism] is linked [to vaccines] and they have been ignored for a very long time.” [04:12]
  • Maher: “There have been so many studies… that does not link autism to vaccines. It just doesn’t.” [04:24]
• Scarborough and Maher discuss increases in autism diagnosis possibly stemming from diagnostic changes, not vaccines.
  • Scarborough: “Now if somebody looks at a teacher wrong, they’re like, oh, he’s on the spectrum.” [05:29]
• Issue raised about the sheer number of vaccines children receive today.
  • Greene: “72 vaccines up to the age of two. That is outrageous.” [06:02]
• Concerns about the cumulative effect of multiple vaccines and modern environmental exposures.
  • Scarborough: “Is there some sort of mixing and matching… that we never had?” [07:10]
• Maher distinguishes between long-standing vaccines (measles, mumps) and new medical trends (e.g., Ozempic).
• Scarborough expresses a general openness to questioning medical orthodoxy but stops short of endorsing conspiracies.
  • Scarborough: “I’m sympathetic to the idea in general. I think he’s [RFK Jr.] a big picture guy… Not very often with where he gets into the weeds.” [07:55]

3. Trump, Foreign Policy Focus, and the ‘Discombobulator’

[08:49–10:40]

• Discussion turns to Trump’s claim about moving an “armada” to the Middle East and something called a “discombobulator.”
  • Maher: “You’d ask in the show about Republicans. I mean, one of the problems that Republicans have is the fact that you’ve got a White House that has been focused on foreign policy so much.” [09:45]
• Critique that U.S. political focus is being directed away from affordability issues (healthcare, rent, groceries) toward foreign policy and conflict.
  • Maher: “Affordability is not [being discussed]. The cost of health care is not… rent is not… groceries, which went up at a faster clip in December than, I think any time since 21 or 22.” [10:10]

4. Protest Movements, Gender in the GOP, and Double Standards

[10:40–12:56]

• Scarborough references gender divides in GOP and claims about women’s mental capacity from Republican politician Mike Johnson.
  • Scarborough: “Mike Johnson… went on some podcast and said he doesn’t think the women have something like the mental capacity to compartmentalize.” [11:29]
• Maher criticizes U.S. campus protest culture, noting the lack of demonstrations over mass killings in Iran versus sustained protests over Gaza.
  • Maher: “Thirty thousand Iranians have been slaughtered. Not one campus protest. Nobody’s talking about it.” [12:16]

5. Ilhan Omar and Grievance Commentary About America

[12:56–16:16]

• Scarborough references Trump’s attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar but also critiques Omar for appearing to lack perspective on America’s virtues.
  • Scarborough: “[Trump] said… she comes here and all she does is complain and bitch… there is a kernel of truth… it just seems like she does not have any perspective on the country that she joined here and never seems to have anything good to say.” [13:18]
• Maher defends Omar’s right to criticize:
  • Maher: “She’s every bit as much of an American as you are or me… She has just as much right as Donald Trump or any other billionaire.” [14:00, 14:15]
• Spirited debate ensues over what constitutes valid criticism versus lack of gratitude.
  • Greene: “Everyone has free speech and all of us complain, but be grateful.” [15:09]
  • Maher: “Over the past decade, all [Republicans have] done is bitched and moaned about how horrible this country was. When we're the most powerful country on the planet…” [15:13]
• Greene brings up Gen Z’s economic stress and doubts about the American Dream.

6. Government Shutdowns and Congressional Dysfunction

[17:26–21:39]

• With another possible government shutdown looming, panelists air their fatigue with recurring brinkmanship.
  • Greene: “Why can we not fund the government? Why is this so complicated? Why can’t we have a balanced budget? Why is it always overspending?” [17:38]
  • Greene: “They’re going to fight on TV so they can make all of you at home mad… outrage fatigue, just constant outrage fatigue.” [17:55]
• Scarborough and Maher recall differences in congressional process then vs. now; more negotiation, regular appropriations, and bipartisan respect in the past; now huge omnibus bills are springing on lawmakers.
  • Maher: “They didn’t do it when you were in Congress… We balanced the budget four years in a row.” [18:24–18:31]
  • Maher: “There’s not buy-in from the members. So that's why you’re more likely to have government shutdowns.” [19:12]
• Lack of camaraderie and civility now compared to previous Congresses.
  • Scarborough: “Was there more congeniality than… when you were there?” [19:17]
  • Maher: “Oh, my God, yes.” [19:19]
  • Greene: “There was no congeniality when I was there.” [19:22]
• Scarborough shares stories of building cross-aisle friendships; contrasts current “political industrial complex,” where polarization fuels fundraising and careerism.
  • Greene: “It’s an entire industry where so much money is made… based on creating this hate among the two parties… [It] feeds off of hate and fear.” [20:49]

7. Empathy, Dialogue, and Personal History

[21:39–22:56]

• Scarborough recalls his first meeting with Maher, when, as the lone conservative on “Politically Incorrect,” Maher stood up for him against an unfair label.
  • Scarborough: “You stood up for me, and I never forgotten it… I’ve never forgotten that 34, 35 years later. And that’s the sort of thing you don’t see in Congress.” [22:05–22:56]
• The importance of meeting people outside your comfort zone and defending fairness in discourse is emphasized.
• The show closes on a moment of camaraderie:
  • Scarborough: “Let’s hug it out, bitches.” [22:56]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Marjorie Taylor Greene [03:05]:
  “I totally believe in parents' rights to choose to vaccinate or not... I don’t think the government should mandate.”

• Bill Maher [04:24]:
  “There have been so many studies… that does not link autism to vaccines. It just doesn’t.”

• Joe Scarborough [07:55]:
  “I’m sympathetic to the idea in general. I think he’s [RFK Jr.] a big picture guy… Not very often with where he gets into the weeds.”

• Bill Maher [10:10]:
  “They’re not talking about that right now. They're talking about a lot of things.”

• Bill Maher [12:16]:
  “Thirty thousand Iranians have been slaughtered. Not one campus protest. Nobody’s talking about it.”

• Joe Scarborough [13:18]:
  “It just seems like she [Ilhan Omar] does not have any perspective on the country that she joined here and never seems to have anything good to say about.”

• Bill Maher [14:00]:
  “She’s every bit as much of an American as you are or me.”

• Marjorie Taylor Greene [15:09]:
  “Everyone has free speech and all of us complain, but be grateful.”

• Greene [17:38]:
  “Why can we not fund the government? ... Why can't we have a balanced budget?”

• Greene [20:49]:
  “It’s an entire industry… based on creating this hate among the two parties… [It] feeds off of hate and fear.”

• Joe Scarborough [22:56]:
  “Let’s hug it out, bitches.”

Important Segment Timestamps

• Nicki Minaj/Trump Gold Card: [01:02–01:55]
• Vaccine/Measles/RFK Jr.: [01:55–08:49]
• Foreign Policy/Discombobulator: [08:49–10:40]
• Campus Protest Double Standards: [11:41–12:56]
• Ilhan Omar/America Criticism Debate: [13:18–16:16]
• Government Shutdown Dysfunction: [17:26–21:39]
• Empathy and Cross-Aisle Friendship: [21:39–22:56]

Tone and Dynamics

The conversation is fast-paced, passionate, and, at times, combative, particularly between Maher and Scarborough when debating patriotism and criticism of America. Yet, it is also marked by moments of camaraderie and self-awareness about the state of national discourse, underscoring Maher’s thesis about the value of dialogue and friendship, even with ideological opposites.

Closing Thoughts

This Overtime segment offers an unfiltered view of American political debate—complete with disagreements, cross-talk, mutual respect, and exasperation. It underscores the challenges—and potential—of having real conversations across political divides. For listeners wanting insight into the contemporary fault lines of U.S. politics and the personalities navigating them, this episode is characteristically Real Time: both combative and, ultimately, hopeful for honest engagement.