Senator John Fetterman | Club Random with Bill Maher

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Or you could order some crispy all-white meat nuggets on their own. Pretty sure you'll love those anytime. Every time. Okay, all of the times. The Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Slider. A brand new classic is back. Only at Taco Bell. At participating U.S. Taco Bell locations for a limited time and while supplies last. Breaking news. Our merch just got a full revamp with all new designs and items. So if you want a little more, random in your life, head over to clubrandom.com and check out the store. We've got premium hoodies, including our brand new quad hoodies with the updated logo, super soft t-shirts, super soft for men and women, and even tie dye shirts. All merch is available exclusively at clubrandom.com. While you're there, catch up on recent episodes and grab some swag and bring a little random home. Once again, that's clubrandom.com. I've had to vote against my caucus alone. I mean, somehow you're the suspect Democrat, the guy in the hoodie. Coming up on the fourth anniversary of when I died from that stroke. Your health is good. Never better. Physically, mentally, everything. How are you doing? Hi. There he is. Hi. How are you big man? Yeah. Thank you. I'm glad you're sitting because I know if you stood, you'd tower over me. I look like a shrimp. Yeah. I see you wore your good shorts. Were you making a speech on the Senate floor? Yeah, no, I mean, true story though. I was never trying to change any dress code. Like, you know, Schumer was just trying to be kind, assuming that it was referencing me. And then I found out, I'm like, Oh my God, everyone's going to think I was like trying. I'm like, no, I, well, maybe you weren't trying. But when you show up like that in a place like the Senate, people are going to notice. Yeah. And it's, you know, yeah, I, it never really occurred to me how, how strange that must seem. Well, it, to me, that story always illustrated the big problem. Of course, I think we both agree that goes on in this country, which is everything is becomes a political battle. Everything. Yeah. It's just, just a, an excuse to say your team is stupid. And my team is great. It has nothing to do with anything. You know what it's like to me, the ballroom, Trump's ballroom. You think, can we talk about that? It's like, who gives, I don't give a fuck about this. It's like, yes, you need, I mean, you've been there. I'm sure you'd seen like they have these tents and it's crazy. And like, now I was a table away when, you know, I was in that assassination and it just, I'm like, I was stunned just walking in. You have the entire line of succession right there. And could you just imagine, I mean, we all remember Oklahoma bomb, right? They could have had someone, you know, in a room up there, boom. And you could have decapitated the, you know, our nation just in one thing with, you know, a couple thousand dollars, a diamond night dynamite and thing. It's. And again, you can be as we do opposing Trump on everything that's important. But if you are a person out there who just hates the ballroom, that is a Rorschach test on you that you go by the, if I hate this person, then I just have to hate everything they do. And it's silly because this is the United States of America. We do need a place. To have state dinners. You know what it is, John? It's the term. It's the word ballroom. It's a funny word. It connotes like some sort of gallivanting around and 18th century, fops with wig powdered wig, a ballroom. If they called it, we're putting in a state dinner, a pavilion. Yeah, absolutely. And from a security from a security issue to now as, as drone technology continue to evolve, it creates an even more, more dangerous. And, and the thing, like by the time we will be forced to vote on that, you know, and then I'll, I'll be like, do I vote? No, because, right. Because, because, oh yeah, we, we have, we have to hate that shit, you know what I mean? But we can't, we can't just acknowledge, yeah, we should have a facility to accommodate these kinds of events. And you know, I vote, I followed your story, how, how long it took you to build your structure. I mean, this thing won't even be finished, by the time he's done. Right. And, and this idea, he's not going to build a Dave and Buster's. I mean, it's, it's, it's just going to be a ballroom. Are they going to make you vote on this? I mean, because it's publicly funded. Regardless at this point, what, whatever's damage done already, because I, I haven't described it as disgusting or terrible. And if you use private money, that's terrible. If you use public money, well, that's outrageous. And now. Meanwhile, the money is like one angstrom unit of a percentage point of what our budget is. So it doesn't matter anyway. It's it's couch money. And in my race in 22 was spent $330 million. That was the record at that time. That's quaint compared to 24 and watch the cycle this year. Senate Senate seats are going to be spending much more than just that to build. A legacy structure for for the white house. And that's only going to be used from presidents that are not going to be him. And 330 million. That is about what a ballroom costs. Yeah, exactly. That's the thing you can either have a Senator or a ballroom. No offense. I'll take the ballroom. The ballroom has a purpose. A lot of the senators you work with do not know. I said, that's the TDS. This thing, and I said that in one where if he, if he came out for ice cream and lazy Sundays, we would fucking hate it. And the other side, we, the other side does it too. But I don't care about them so much. I would like the Democrats. I mean, we're both always on the same page here. We just, people attack us because they think we're picking fights with the left. We're not picking fights. We just, don't like let it pass. If we think something is stupid. Yeah. Do you have to have a fucking opinion on everything? I mean, we all, we all have platforms and we all have a personal bandwidth. You have to choose what's your, and I don't chase these small, like weird things because it has no impact on the overall, you know, but people, you know, they become a just constant, constant. Right. And they have to be at war. My advice to them. I did this as a bit one night because every time I've tried to learn meditation, which I'm not very good at, maybe you are, um, you know, it's a big thing. You have people very respectable people like Sam Harris is a big meditation person. People I respect a lot say it's very helpful for you and they always describe it as, you know, meditating, clearing your mind and we all have a million thoughts that are coming into our mind. And they say, well, just let them pass like a cloud. Yes, thoughts will come. Just let them pass. Like, and I feel like this is what you have to do with Donald Trump. Uh, go after the stuff that matters. The politicization of the justice department, the threatening of election. I mean all the stuff and the stuff that like ballroom stuff, that's the cloud. It's just, it doesn't matter. And if you chase it, it's so much more about you. Yeah. Well, at that point it's constantly like a churn and the thing that, you know, today the most outrageous thing, the world's on fire. And then by Wednesday we've moved on to something completely different. And that's the next, it's the next kind of crisis. And the conversation is increasingly driven by people that represent a very blue, you know, the anti the resistance, whatever you want to call it. People that have never won, like an actual election that, you know, you have to be in front of both kinds of people and make the argument and just realize that there is another side. And they're all not fascists. They're not Nazis. They're not trying to destroy. They love the country just as much as you do and finding a way forward. And that's the reality. That's the essence of democracy. And when you represent a state like Pennsylvania, that's a responsibility. And, you know, it's easy and even you can be jealous where it must be nice to just to yell, yell to the. Oh, it is. It's lovely to sit in the peanut gallery. Yes. Yeah. The peanut gallery now is like one of those fancy theaters. Now the seats go back and they have a thing for your food to put in. And, oh, it's very exclusive. It's like 25 bucks a ticket, but I think it's worth it because otherwise the peanuts, you're just sitting on peanut shells. And now we're, you know, the Democratic Party, we can't resist our worst impulse. As things continue to accelerate, we keep trying to get ahead of California. You know, like we, you know, as a national party, we can't get ahead of California of these kinds of policies and this kinds of thoughts of what we think it should be. If you believe in Medicare for everyone, why don't we have it here in California? Why don't we have it in other blue states that could do anything that they want to do? And there's a lot of realities. So, you know, why, why can't we just slow down and realize, call balls, call strikes, and remember all of our excess that really cost us in 2024, we will revisit a lot of the things and add a hundred million dollars behind that. And that people will finally remind that, oh yeah, they, they do have kinds of things that aren't compatible with my worldview. I had our governor on Friday night. Oh yeah. I, I, yeah. Okay. So, I still appreciate this. So, uh, you know, they always, the news people write about the show over the weekend and, uh, I see in the California Post, which is the New York Post now that we have it out here. Yeah, I read it. Yeah, I do too. It's great to have somebody to keep the other side honest. I mean, some of it is trashy. That's fine. Some of it, I enjoy some trash and it's too reflexively anti-democratic, but it's fun. And, and yes, there's also some actual very, uh, credible writing in there from the right, which is, which is okay. But I see they're talking about my interview with Newsom and it's, uh, well, Bill kept his feet to the fire. And Bill said, when he started to talk about California, Bill said, uh, you really think people are feeling that as he was bragging about the stuff in the state. So it looked like I was the hero there. Then I read the next day, Trump tweeted that I was too easy on him. And so the story at the same paper is like, ah, well, he just let Newsom off the hook. I wait a day ago. They just don't care. They don't care what the truth is. They go, what's going to sell the paper today or be interesting today. You can't even take it seriously. I mean, since I, since I was here, have you seen the, what's the Spencer Pratt's, whatever his last commercial that AI about he's Batman? You know, you, you have to see it because he has this AI commercial as Batman and it put, it put, uh, mayor Bass as the Joker and they put Newsom as, you know, like Louis the 14th, you know, eating cake. And I'm telling you now, like, you know, whatever happens in this election, it's going to be a lot of fun. And I'm telling you now, like, you know, any other election, you know, any other election, I guarantee they are, you know, like, uh, it put him just like French, you know, eating cake and, you know, you should check it out because obviously this is all from AI and, and, but he, so he made it with AI, but ran it as a real campaign ad. I mean, he's not legit. He's not denouncing it. Well, consider the other side, the democratic sides, their commercials are literally fuck Trump, right? Yeah. Like it's just keeps cutting, you know, different people saying fuck Trump. And I'm like, oh yeah. Oh yeah. You're going to love that in a purple state. Try, try to, try to win, try to win a national argument. And by announcing, you know, the party's leader and, and your, and your voters, you know, like, well, that's your platform. Yeah. It's first of all, he can't be president again. Uh, I, that doesn't mean he won't try. Uh, but even for people who, who didn't vote for him, that doesn't appeal to me that, that this is the smartest thing you can say really. Uh, so, you know, look, I mean, honestly, I was never worried that he was going to run for three terms. I mean, he's like the master troll. I mean, he, he must love just Trump 28 throwing out the hats and it's just meth. And then if he does try to run for a third term, that means that makes, uh, Obama eligible. And then, you know, isn't America really wanting that to finally settle that anyway, who actually wins? Cause I don't know, but like, that's just not going to happen. But yeah, but I mean, first of all, he could do it. Uh, I mean, when I talked to him, he, he did, and I've heard him say it in other occasions, but he did say vaguely, you know, there's a way you could do it. And I remember saying to him, no, there's not a way you could do it. And again, this is what they got mad. Me for reporting, honestly, that in private, when you talk to him like that, he doesn't get upset when he said, uh, there's a way you could do it. And I just said, blatantly friendly again, because when you're on, when you're the claws are down and I just said, there's actually not a way you could do it. He just laughed, you know, it wasn't like, and then Dr. Jekyll goes away and Mr. Hyde comes out who has to like call everybody out, everything and be completely DEFCON one about everything. I mean, this obsession he seems to have lately with, I was so nervous at the White House that I had to have a drink right away. It's like what a check says about you when she's pissed off and you break up, you know, like he did this, he did that. No, I didn't do any of that. Uh, did I have a drink before dinner? Yes. As was it immediately? Of course not. Was I nervous? No. Partly because again, he wasn't. Well, you were taking on the spectacle, right? I mean, and I mean, you and I, you know, we were in a unique situation together. You know, he invited me to have a dinner with him at Mar-a-Lago in, in January of 2025. And, and I took a lot of shit for that. Like, you know, I'm like, he invited, why wouldn't as a Senator, you know, have an opportunity to, to, to meet with him and, and you did the same thing. And like, why is that? And he does listen in private. Yeah. I couldn't believe it. I keep saying to these people, these morons, he needs more people like us talking to him, not less. And he's willing to do it. It's the, it's the people on the far left who are like, how dare you talk to Hitler? How dare you talk to Hitler? Of course, there are people like the nut who was at the dinner. You just mentioned who are going to take that seriously. No, that happens on the other side too. Rhetoric does cause action. Absolutely. But I mean, well, what was that like? I mean, you said you were a couple of feet away from FanDuel is now available everywhere in the U S so you can get in on the sports action, no matter where you are. Including these places make this your most rewarding season ever with FanDuel age and location restrictions apply product availability varies by market. See FanDuel.com for eligibility gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER Hank joined BJ's wholesale club the day he became a father of 30. I coach football. Now coach Hank saves up to 25% off grocery store prices, 30 pounds of pasta, three cases of protein bars, 75 sports drinks. And that's just pregame. He knows teamwork and BJ's knows savings. This is your home coach home of the save joined for just $20 at BJ's.com slash Mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months open soon. Limited time offer new members only BJ's home of the save. Yeah. Well, it's like, you know, when you were, you were describing your experience on your show, like you've, you've seen that, that, that meme from Leo, like me, me, like I was like, that's the thing, like gracious and measured, whatever that's a term use. That's, that's his, you know, in a personal level. And it's a much, much dramatically different, the public face compared to when you're there. And he, you know, we, we hung out for 75 minutes where I wondered if it was going to be 10 minutes, kind of like high by and whatever. No, no, he, he gives the time. Yeah. And, and that's, it was. Yeah. Yeah. Well, another thing I keep saying, is he's not home reading the briefing books. He's a people of saying God peep. So be aware one of the people saying it's the only way he gets information is through dialogue oh yeah no okay that's just the truth i'm not even putting him down although a president should definitely read the briefing books but that's the world we're living in we're with one who doesn't so like conform to that a little bit it doesn't make you uh somehow unpure makes you practical and smart oh well like it's like it's funny like he was giving like a speech at at some place in i think florida and he's like it you start talking about dr oz he's like look he's like dr oz i don't care about that medic i don't just do something he's just yeah like he just looks like like just absolutely said that aloud and like that's that reference that preference where it's like the the the briefs and all that stuff like i like i don't care dr oz i don't just just do whatever i mean the things that he says aloud the way he just voices his interior monologue there's there is something not exactly psychologically normal about someone who just vomits their interior monologue but it gives him a authenticity with people that no one else can possibly match i saw his interview with nora o'donnell after the uh shooting like the next day and uh she quotes the the assassin who called him a pedophile hitler or whatever he called i mean you know pedophile you know could any of the things be true yes anything could be true but like to to just go right to it's the ballroom syndrome again let's just go right to the worst thing because we hate this guy and uh that pissed him off a lot um i could see both sides as a reporter it is news also it's giving access to the president or the president of the president of the president of the president of the from the terrorist, I would say, that's terrorism, assassination, nut, you're giving his message, okay, you could make a case for either one. But his reaction immediately was to her, you're a terrible person. And he didn't just think it. Like any politician, that's exactly what they're thinking. He just says it. Like, if that's what's in his head, you're a horrible person. You're a terrible, you're a disgrace, you're a horrible person. And he just, and it's like, it's at the same time horrifying and also like, it's kind of like refreshing. It's shockingly, the honesty, as someone who loves honesty and has made my career about it as much as I could, it is, it's, there's some level of it where you tip your hat and you go, wow, total honesty. I think you're a horrible person and I'm just. I was going to say it. The ultimate, the quiet piggy. Right. Yeah. That's the president of America. No, that's. You're a quiet piggy. That's why I don't. I mean, it's like, all you can do is just, you know, like. I don't get mad when he sends out these tweets anymore about me. It's like, because the next day, I feel like it's forgotten. Yeah, I don't know. A long time ago, yeah. I don't know if he, even he remembers. But I know he's, I know he's working very hard together. He's trying to get you or isn't he trying now to get you to become a Republican? I mean, I, like, I absolutely had to, you know, actively participate in an election that I absolutely knew that we'd go down. You know, like after the assassination, people have absolutely forgotten the difference between Zapruder or Butler is half an inch. And that would have been that. Right. And. Uh. How horrific it is that. Horrific. Yes. Yeah. And I can't imagine the shape of our country if he has been, uh. Oh. Yeah. Oh, like I can't, I can't imagine. Thank God. Thank God for a lot of reasons why that was unsuccessful. And people forgot that I think in my, in my views. And then after when you, uh, when, when Anderson Cooper asked, uh, Harris, you know, so you think he, she's a, he's a fascist. Yeah, I do. I do. And that means, uh, people that, well, the, if he's a fascist, that must mean, you know, I must be a fascist too. And if you know and love a lot of people that have voted for him, I know they aren't fascist. And you kind of view. I mean, there are things the Trump administration has done that resemble what fascist governments do. That doesn't make him a fascist. I said 10 years ago before he won the first time, I thought this was a slow moving coup in the sense that he was never going to, uh, voluntarily give up power. And he still really didn't. I mean, he still is upset about the 2020 election, which is, which is an insane thing to do. Uh, if you then won the 2024 election, because okay, you, this is the third act and you know, the hero rises. And of course, you have to have a second act. Of course, he goes down in the second act and then he comes back in the third act. He doesn't then, you know, relitigate the second act because you've already avenged it by becoming president again, but he's still obsessed with it. I, it's one of the reasons why I was, I was, was eager to have a sit down where I'm like, I was Marvel. I, I marveled at the, the, the, the most incredible political, you know, turnaround ever, you know, like after January 6th, after impeach twice, uh, and, you know, you know, and all the trials, yeah, the trials and everything. And to, to win, you know, every swing state and the popular vote, you know, the absolute kinds of, uh, of a reversal. And, and it's like crazy. And that's why there's some things that they do. I just don't understand. And, uh, you, what you possible at that point and what you may choose to do, you know, I made that decision. I'm like, well, I'm going to agree with some things that I happen to agree, you know, and the things that I don't is, you know, and like, I never voted for the big beautiful bill and those things. I've never voted for these kinds of signature things that I think it isn't the right thing for the country, but I absolutely support the things that they've done. Well, I think you vote with the Democrats, 93% of the time. I mean, it's hysterical to me that the Democratic party, which you vote with 93% of the time, because I feel like I get the same shit from the same kind of people. It just, I'm so glad that there's a number to put with it because even when you're 93% with them, their attitude is so bad. They have such a bad attitude of you either be, you either have the one true opinion, which we, the geniuses of the far left know. Or you're just somebody, at least suspect. In a state that 52% agree Trump should be president and, you know, the guy that represents them, you know, 93% time. And if, I know you're not a believer in marriage, but if you married to someone and you agree 93% of the time, that's probably be a pretty great marriage. And I'm mystified by it. And what's also on the other side, I've had, you know, I've had, you know, I've had a lot of people who have had Republican friends, you know, in office say they're like, you know, our internals, you're more popular with our people than, than we are. How? And, and I, I don't understand that either. I, you know, when I vote 93% like a damn line and I'm more popular with Republicans, I can't explain it. I tr I truly don't. And I find myself in a strange, in a strange place. When are you up for reelection? 28? 28. Oh. And, and, you know, like the things that were really important to me, uh, that was, and I think you are largely agree with, uh, the circumstances in Israel after 10, seven and the Gaza war and the prime minister and how that migrated into a midnight hammer. And of course the Iranian war, and you don't have the kinds of energy and outrage on the left. Iran just massacred 30,000 or 40,000 of its young people and now are actively now torturing, beating, and hanging teenagers right now, executing these people. No outrage. And that's really, maybe that's part of the fracture in my party. And that's probably how I explain it. And those outrages that you speak about, those atrocities, those are only the outrageous new visible ones. What about the everyday atrocity that was living under the Iranian regime? Now, you know, people compare it to the Iraq war. In some ways it is, in some ways it isn't. Iraq and Iran are quite different countries. Sunni and Shiite, one of the most important countries in the world, and one of the most important countries in the world, and one of the most important countries in the world. And so, you know, people compare it to the Iraq war. Iraq and Iran are - One, I'm sorry, but just way more sophisticated than the other, and that would be Iran. Iran, under the Shah, yes, he was a dictator also, but it was a fairly Western country. - Have you seen-- - It's a very, it's a very sophisticated population. - Have you seen the pictures, I looked through, catalog of of pictures of the iranian society in the 70s you know before the it's it's western yes and women are able to address effectively the same way yes and it's so it's so radical that's the society and when i spend time here in la i constantly encounter members of the iranian uh community and they are all they're they're once supportive of my views right and they all understand how awful the iranian regime is and and how evil and they want you know you and i free palestine no where's the where's the protest free iran free iran why can't we have a free iran you know like where where why does that come from and that is absolutely but what are we going to do about it now that it has devolved into this stalemate i mean just yesterday uh first first well first they announced the war part is over we were on to project freedom which is just about opening the strait and that lasted like an hour and they stopped doing that because i think what trump fears a lot right now is he doesn't want one of our boats to get sunk that oh yeah absolutely and that could happen like like if you if if it has to be a perfect war in terms of that people have forgot like the brutality and and real loss for that and then that i think that's what the that's what defines that you know i was so nervous and just following that so closely about about rescuing uh the pilot you know that would have turned the entire yeah energy of that if if the iranians would have got to them yes and can you imagine i mean they're making lego videos for propaganda can you imagine if they had an an american pilot i can because i saw owen wilson in behind and enemy lines. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is that exact movie. And I think that's part of the energy. But I think what's accomplished with Epic was very important. And it's astonishing to what they've been able to do. But overall right now, it would be a huge, huge loss if you don't walk away now without requiring them to produce their nuclear material. I don't know how, you know, I don't know how you can force them because they've kind of shown we can take your best punch. And let's be honest, the things that the reason why you and I both supported this war as a thing to be done, none of those objectives have been achieved. It's not a different regime. It may in fact be a worse regime because now the Revolutionary Guard probably is in command. Directly, as opposed to having the mullahs above them, wink, wink. But they were really in command. But whatever it is, it's not the people we want who took over. The protest from the people rising didn't happen. I've been saying that's because they missed their window. They should have attacked Iran while the people were in the streets. They let the people get slaughtered in the streets. Oh, yeah. And that's probably the top echelon of the people who you want to be in the streets, the bravest ones. They killed them all. What's so disappointing to me is where is the global nation community, you know, demanding Iran at this point? You know, it's like this idea, like this, every Democrat, you can't ever let them build a bomb, you know, and we're here at the cusp. When would you ever have that opportunity to do? And so if now the Democratic Party and, you know, a lot of the media has trained the Iranian regime, it's like we just have to hang on one more day, one more day. We have to, because eventually people will lose their focus and just give up. And that's, I think that's the tragedy right now. How do you, I mean, again, the objectives, the people didn't rise up, the regime isn't changed. We don't have the nuclear weapons 100 percent secured. And then the Strait of Hormuz. Which wasn't even on the table before the war. It should have been as an issue. So we lost the three things we wanted and gained one fourth one we didn't want. Yeah, we knocked out some of their, most of their military stuff. Okay, that's all to the good. But how do you actually get this nuclear dust, he calls it, whatever it is. We probably knocked out some of it with the bomb back in July, the big bomb. Bunker buster bomb. But we don't know. Apparently we probably didn't because we're doing this. We don't know unless we are actually in that mountain. And how do you get in that mountain? They have a million man army that hasn't been talked about a lot. But they do have an army. So if you're going to look at that mountain and what's in it, somehow you're going to have to secure that area, which means I think you're going to have to fight this million man army. And you don't want that, right? You're going to have to secure that area, which means I think you're going to have to fight this million man army. Available on Plus and Pro plans. And we have to break and do the same for Hezbollah. And they've done that. And then they knew. They all understand history. A country can't fight two wars on two fronts at the same time. So after they neutralized those two, they were able to go after Iran. And then everything changed with Midnight Hammer. And they were able to significantly damage their nuclear facilities. Now, if there was a ceasefire, and now where would Iran's nuclear bomb? It wouldn't be right now, you know, two years after that, if there was that ceasefire that we all demanded. And where would Hezbollah? Hezbollah would have hundreds of thousands of rockets able to fire on will. Absolutely. Yeah. And things that we would never tolerate in our nation. You know, I had a room as Israeli politicians. I'm like, you know, have you ever been in your bomb shelter in your home? Everyone hand goes up. And I'm like, yeah, well. Yeah. And now Democrats are voting against supporting the Iron Dome. And those purely defensive things for Israel. And that's the betrayal. And that's heartbreaking to me. These were our core values. And that's part of this fracturing. And maybe that's why I've lost support in part of the Democratic Party. Me too. I mean, we're exactly the same way on this. We're really walking hand in hand because we get shit about it. And if there's one issue, I mean, this whole. This whole big issue of Israel, the Middle East, Islamophobia, this whole. Because they're all connected. If there's one issue which makes me say to the far left, stop asking me why I make fun of the left more than I used to. This is it. This is why. Because you're morally goofy. You're ignorant. You don't know history. You don't know the present either. Just when you put it on that level where you just said, would you? I like to do. I like to do it to that. Because people don't know the history. They don't know the facts. So you kind of have to just make it on that level for them. And I did it once. There was a liberal woman who was sitting here and she was arguing about how horrible. I saw that. Where? It's like, where would you live? Tel Aviv, right? Right. Yeah. If you had to live somewhere in the Middle East and it was just a lot of like trying to scream over me, like whatever she could do to not answer the question and finally did have to say, yes, Tel Aviv. I mean. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Yeah. I mean. Ask any ISIS bride, you know, how's the life, you know, you know? ISIS bride. Ask it, you know? Like, Australia now has finally agreed to repatriate, you know, these ISIS brides. You know, these people, these women in Australia realize, oh, my gosh, that must be the caliphate, you know, living that life. And, you know, ask any of them, ask any of them. Just the concept of an ISIS bride, which is basically a sex slave. But when your husband isn't fucking you, you have to wear the fucking beekeeper suit so nobody else can even look at you. And these are the women who would be like, how horrible the manosphere is. They don't respect women at all. Let me go join someone who will put me in a tarp all day and cover me like I'm a motorboat engine. I mean, they are so morally goofy and liars. You know, they put that whole thing out for the longest time. Israel was starving the Palestinian people. You know, that was part of the thing in Gaza, part of their – yes, people were starving because Hamas stole all the food. Exactly, yes. Because Hamas wants the people to die. That is – first of all, they love being martyrs. Let's just not gloss over that. That's part of the whole religion-dominated culture. Martyrdom is good. They have words for it. That's why they struggle. They trapped bombs to children. Okay? So, again, you're morally goofy if this is the team you want to be on. And Israel didn't starve them. First of all, no other nation on earth at war would ever be even asked to feed their enemy. Yeah. Okay. But Israel always has to play by a different set of rules. Okay. So they're going to feed their enemy. They tried. The food was stolen. By the same people who, by the way, had an enormous bomb shelter. The whole country was a bomb shelter. It was their tunnels. But they wouldn't let the people in them. Yeah. And they would use the hospitals. They would use the schools. They would use that civilian facilities for the attacks. You know, Sinwar described Palestinians as necessary sacrifices. You know, that's the plan. It's like they don't care. They don't care how many Palestinians were killed. And that's part of the problem, too. Having to engage in a war that doesn't care because how many civilians suffered. They don't care. In fact, they celebrated, in fact. And I know you have your problems, John. But I live here in Hollywood. I have to live amongst people, most of whom, who think it's cool to wear the keffiyeh. I have to wear the keffiyeh. i think for a minute and you know what they visited while they were in cuba like sightseeing on the whirlwind tour they went to the north korean embassy and one of them tweeted out our solidarity with north korea for being two regimes that are against u.s violence the level of stupidity of these kids that they know one thing this country america is the worst one that's ever been we have done nothing but even that's really how they've been indoctrinated it's aside the fact that it's terrible for our national security it's just wrong it's just stupid you're stupid you're factually wrong this country has done bad things like every country has on a relative scale we've actually been way better instead of staying at a at a luxury hotel live with a real family that lives under this terrible regime for a month and and you still will you still defend this regime if you spent a month living in extreme kind of deprivation like that right of course of course not you know you you get choppered in stay at at a luxury hotel you know like this is great and then we're out i mean it's it's just i and and and that's that's the first that's the frustration but these are part they are the people that the emerging you know that's that's our new class of mascots for a party and and now many of the people that are running for the senate are campaigning with these kinds of people well i mean just the word communism or being called a communist was not that long ago was a dirty word as it should be uh we did try it communism all over the world it's it's all it's a nightmare but it's not a dirty word anymore on the left you know i'm just you know you know platner in maine absolutely identified himself as a communist right and so and and so does mondami's main um lieutenant that's sia weaver in new york head of the movement to get the rents fixated or whatever i don't know what you know she says home ownership is racist right and it's white supremacy she's also tweeted out elect more communists we want to impoverish you know white middle middle uh middle income families it's part of as part of the extreme and and that's what i'm saying like it's ironic in my cycle that the republicans try to spend tens of millions of dollars to convince people that i was a socialist you know and and now i'm accused of gone maga after voting 93 percent democrats but communism now that's not it's qualifying it's not that anybody's gone maga it's that you're gone gaga you're fucking nuts you're crazy you'd say crazy shit like i mean that the woman we're talking about uh all home ownership is racist in a country where 20 million black people own homes it you know uh queers for palestine when your mother when you're self-contradictory yeah their mother has a two million dollar home in like tennessee or whatever and and it's just like kamala you know what kamala harris oh just no i'm referencing that like no i know mandami's house yeah yeah but i i did read that she purchased yeah in a nine million dollar home in malibu and she should that's fine this is america yeah i agree no judgment yeah she's got a big baller house in malibu i mean you can't get less sort of you real person kind of i mean somehow you're the suspect democrat the guy in the sweatshirt and the hoodie who lives like he always did you know regular guy pittsburgh stealer fan dada dada dada i could go on but she's the one who more represent well if you think that more represents and again she good good for you to have a nine million dollar house but to think that that represents that working class that the i mean i don't know it just it doesn't look to talk talk to any traditional uh union traditional guys they're all all all gone from the democratic party really that's you know that started 10 years ago during the trump first first race and a hundred percent all those traditional you know the regular regular dudes and those kind of people you know they're they're they're not they're not coming back and and that's that in part why you know we have a second term of trump i think i think that and and i would say the first term is because around then i think there was a lot of talk about how well you know the republican party they they seem to do well in these races and we had bush and blah blah blah and then mitch mcconnell look what he did he fucked up the supreme court thing yes he did but you know what their days are numbered because this is a a country that is getting more and more diverse which is a great thing uh all the time and trump looked around and went yeah i still see a lot of white people you know what that is true but i still i see i see white people he was like the kid in the sixth sense except not dead white i see white people and he did and they still exist and uh and they're mostly not racist but they do have their own concerns and uh there's a lot of white people who are anti-racist and uh willing to turn your life over to the cause of anti-racism which is what the far left wants um i think the best way to be an anti-racist to be a decent human being to all people but that's very passe that's that's democrat classic john yeah yeah well that's what we are we're classic you know i i've i've uh i followed you for you know we watch for for your values haven't changed you know your views haven't changed and i say this i'm the same thing where it's like no i haven't you know like i i mean and and that's what's so exasperating where i'm like no we're we're fine we're it's so much better to be sane no matter how much a certain faction hates you for it lots of other people love us for it so there's it's not like we're getting not getting a good trade-off but also it's just you just sleep better at night knowing no i i'm not one of these sheep who won't say the emperor has no clothes it's a real emperor has no clothes thing you know when it's when you see somebody with queers for palestine shirt and you and you just pretend that that's not a thing that that's not so stupid okay you can do that but you are an emperor no clothes person there you are saying the emperor has no clothes and i mean no i mean i am i mean you're saying the emperor does have clothes right i'm the kid who says the emperor has no clothes because the emperor doesn't have any clothes in that scenario and many others i mean i could list a dozen things where the the left finds a way to work their way back to what they're trying to stop you know like defunding the police you know we're right we're right back there you know we're we're like you know fuck ice abolish ice we are back we can't resist our worst impulses that brought that summoned that summoned a second term with trump you know and now we are back there and backlash like ice yeah exactly we are living in the backlash of this and we are what 15 months into his term that's four years can you imagine what's going to happen in the next two months six months you know a year from now i mean do you think it's going to get going in one direction more extreme and there are you know there are no experts at this point because we are in unprecedented kinds of times you know i've had to vote against my caucus alone through two two government shutdowns the you know historic long record-breaking you know we used to be we used to be the party that would refuse to shut down our government you know you know we used to last year we used to scold tuberville in alabama for jamming up promotions and now we've shut the whole the whole government that we've shut the whole thing down and over health care so you're a guy who's known to have friends on the other side of the aisle which i think is so important that we don't do that much anymore it's it's like i don't sit with those kids in the lunchroom um but like somebody like you mentioned him tommy tuberville he was a football coach yeah i mean he he did that stand about uh i think it was like abortion in parts of the military for some weird thing and it jammed up you know promotions and and it it was punishing innocent people and we shut the entire government down for 44 days and plunged people into chaos snap 42 million americans depend on snap all of that stuff in flux you know we well we're doing this for health care there was no health care there was no developments we've all moved on we're not talking about that anymore and then the second shutdown was about we have to punish ICE, but we all knew that because of the big, beautiful bill that I did not vote for, had unlimited money, and yet we still, we have to shut it down because the base demands that, and I was the only Democrat, I'm not going to shut down our DHS to punish ICE because, and that, what's happened? Zero, zero reforms on ICE that I wanted to see as well, too. Zero reforms, nothing. We walked away empty pockets, just like in the first one, because they were both driven by the outrage of the base, and that's another reason why I'm at odds with part of the party, and I don't know. These were our values. We must never shut our government down, but now we're doing the same things. Well, you ask what we're going to be doing in two, six, eight months. I have no idea. I know the political landscape will change a lot. What doesn't seem to change is my life. Trump makes anything possible on our side, too. The extremism has mutated the genome here of who knows what's possible, how it's going to continue to mutate, and the extreme things now, I'm the party that calls them as Nazis, but except for the guy that has an actual Nazi tattoo, we won't call him a Nazi. I don't hold that against him. That, to me, is the kind of gotcha thing, that people play games with. I think it's a red herring. If anything, he's way too far left. I don't think he's a Nazi. I think he got a tattoo when he was a teenager or something. He says he doesn't know what it was. Even if he didn't, you know what? It's like you can't hold people responsible for what they did as a teenager. I think he was a teenager. Well, except that he was caught lurking online and praising Hamas snuff film of them killing and torturing Israeli soldiers to death. I dig it, you know? I mean, he thinks, he absolutely praised Hamas what they've done in that. See, I see that as a leftist thing. Yeah, well, but my point, though, and that doesn't, this is this idea, though, you know, all cops are bastards. You know? He's claimed that. Okay, that, see, I'm still getting educated on him. I know that. He said all cops, that right away. Yeah, and all rural people are racist and stupid. These are, I'm not insulting him. I'm just reflecting the things that he has proudly said online. And it's not a gotcha thing. It's just what's, that's who he is. And he's the guy that ran away from the primary. And he's going to be the senator in Maine. Because the only person, the only person he was running against on the Democratic side dropped out. Correct, correct, yeah. And there will be unlimited money there. And that's made possible because, you know, I don't think that's authentic. I think that's just someone that has extreme views. And that's just, how is that qualifying of being part of this? Well, I would say that the two wings of the party that we keep talking about, talk to Trump, fuck Trump. Those are the two wings. Well, no, to be clear, though. I mean, it's like, here we are now. It's like, I don't care if you build a ballroom. That's bad. That's bad punishing. You know, you've said I'm a communist or all cops are bastards, abolish ICE and all that other stuff. We're okay with that kind of thing. Agreeing, like, I don't care. Build a ballroom that we do need. That's damaging. But all these other extreme things seems, seems pretty good to me. Yeah, you know, you seem like you're upbeat. I mean, you look good. You look healthy. Oh, I, I, I haven't, I felt so good. Just be, I'm going to just agree or vote for things that I think happen to be true. And it just, I sleep better. I feel better. I don't, I don't carry this. Yeah. You know, a career isn't worth anything. If I had spent that lying, I know what pays the bills as a Democrat. Right. Right. Right. Right now, fuck Trump, literally. And just agreeing to do things that we would never do those kind of things. And I've always refused to turn my back on the Jewish community and Israel because that's what history demonstrates that's consistently going to happen. The best thing about being honest is that you don't have to keep your lies in order. Do you know? You don't have to remember, you don't have to remember lies, you know? And that's a prime. Whether that's true or not, it's priceless. Well, maybe that's a version of Bullworth or whatever, but I'm just, that's what I've decided to do. But your health is good because obviously you've had- Oh, yeah. Never better. Never better. Yeah. In every way. What? Yeah, yeah. You think all of that is behind you. Yeah, I just, I just had- Oh, that's great. The checkout, actually, before I came out to the West Coast, yeah, and, you know, checked out. You know, absolutely. And I'm the luckiest guy alive. I mean, I'm coming up on, you know, when this drops, that would be essentially the fourth anniversary of when I died from that stroke. Right. And that was touch and go at that time. And I never thought I, four years later, I'd be sitting in a chair talking to a guy that I always- Oh, thank you. And I could have been dead or I could have been- So when you have a stroke, are you supposed to take aspirin? I'm asking for a friend. No, Will, I take a medical version of it. But is that the first- Yeah, it's called Eloquist. And that's a blood thinner to make sure that doesn't happen. And then also what really brought to that was I suffer from AFib. And that's kind of like a silent thing. Right. And that damaged the heart in a way. And the stress of everything about that campaign, it all just, you know, converged. And that's when I was, I knew I felt terrible at that point. And I was going to just finish out the primary. And then I was going to immediately get checked out because, and the mistake was three days before the election. That's when the stroke hit. Do you have anxiety about- Not anymore. No, about the- About time? No, about whatever upcoming election. The kind of, because once you go into an election season, whoever your opponent is- Even the people on your own team in a primary, but then certainly the Republican, are going to say the worst sort of things about you. I mean, I've- I've lived through that. I've already been dead once, you know? Like there's nothing, like it's- So you don't care what they say about you. It's very liberating in that way. And what I'm saying, like, there's no real stress compared to whether if you're a soldier in IDF or, you know, in our military, or you have families, you know, with a lot of these ability to feed themselves and all that thing compared to where I'm at, you know, there's, you know, just freeing to just, I happen to believe this is true. This is where I think the Democratic Party should exist in that way. And, you know, I'm tired of hearing lectures that, well, we need to be a big tent party, but except for this guy, you know, like I, why? It's just common sense. Yeah, well, having the courage to, you know, that having the courage to just be honest about these kinds of circumstances. And I think that's what America, you know, really wants, except in the extreme kinds of spaces, but they have the largest and the loudest voices and they rule in the primary parts and that, and, you know, eliminate this idea of primarying because, and you just make it, you just make it seem open primaries and people will be accountable on both sides on the things that you say and the things that you vote and the things you say. All right, John. Well, I know I have a special treat this week 'cause I get to see you on Friday also. You came in and for us at the last minute, I really appreciate that. Oh, hey, well, I mean, that's a treat. I was glad when I get to have my audience get to see you and see what you have to say, because again, people like us, we gotta fight for the megaphone. I mean, it is the crazier people who get, I feel like, more of the coverage. So, you know, I sure hope you run in 28 and, you know, I just hope you're on the scene a long time 'cause I don't have a lot of allies, but you are one of my allies. Well, I've been described as the lonely Democrat, but I feel a little less Democrat as a Democrat, you know, watching your shows and you're, you know, watching your interviews because it's like, hey, a guy that if our values haven't changed and the things have mutated in ways. And believe me, I'm sure you hear it too. We don't see a lot of it in the press 'cause the press is kind of captured by either fringe on either side, but I'm sure you have a lifelike mind. Wherever you go, people come up to you. All the time, yeah. All the time. Yeah, all the time. To try to tell you, please do what you keep doing because you're one of the few people I, you know, that means the world to me. Anyway, you mean a lot to me too. Thank you, that's always a pleasure. Thank you, pal. I'm glad you came by and. all my little crazy get up here and you saw this the insults that he signed when i went to the white house oh yeah yeah yeah isn't that awesome fan duel is now available everywhere in the u.s so you can get in on the sports action no matter where you are including these places make this your most rewarding season ever with fan duel age and location restrictions apply product availability varies by market see fanduel.com for eligibility gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER this episode is brought to you by chat gpt hey it's bill simmons from the bill simmons podcast have you guys heard about chat gpt work it's the new way to use chat gpt for bigger multi-step projects and when you need more than just answers give chat gpt work access to your apps and files and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets slides and structured reports get started at chat gpt.com by selecting work mode available on plus and pro plans do you hear that that sound right that means that summer's officially here it means that grown adults just sprint into the street for a frozen dessert shaped like a cartoon but this summer mint mobile has a better tree every plan including limited is $15 a month and unlike ice cream it won't uh drip down your wrist or look nothing like the picture does anyone have any cash give it a try at mintmobile.com switch upfront payment of $45 for three months $90 for six months or $180 for 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees extra new customer offer for initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy see terms