All right, here we are
on Overtime. She's a CNN contributor
and co-host on ABC'S<i> The View,</i> -Ana Navarro.
-(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) He writes the weekly column<i>
The End of My Career</i> on Substack, Joel Stein. He co-hosts the syndicated
radio show,<i> The Breakfast Club.</i> And his new book
is<i> Get Honest or Die Lying,</i> Charlamagne tha God. Okay. All right,
"What do you think, panel, of Martha-Ann Alito--" That is Justice Alito
of the Supreme Court, his wife. "Who likes flags?" -Okay, it's Flag Day.
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Today's Flag Day. "Is it reflective
of a larger phenomenon in the U.S.?" How is there not a Bravo show, <i> -The Real Housewives
of the Supreme Court?</i>
-(BILL MAHER LAUGHING) I would watch
the crap out of that. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Mrs. Alito in the double wide
with Mrs. Thomas. Well, I mean... (SIGHS) ...the fact that this country
is so politicized, it's almost inevitable, I think, that the flags
would get involved. So many flags.
I don't know what they mean. There's a bit-- You know,
this lady said, Mrs. Alito, that what makes her tick,
what makes her happy, her hobby, basically, she's not knitting,
she's not playing pickleball. No, she's making up flags
in her head. She's got one where she wants
to put out the word<i> "vergogna,"</i> which is Italian for "shame,"
except she's not Italian. -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
-BILL: She's not Italian? No, she's married to an Italian, but she kept telling
this woman, the activist, that she was German. And I kept thinking to myself,
if she is spewing all of this to this woman
who she doesn't know at a public event, just imagine what
that lady does in private. -But, wait. To be fair...
-(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Okay. CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD:
So, is she flag-phobic? -BILL: What-- (LAUGHS)
-What's the story? (CHUCKLES) -God hates flags, is what...
-God hates-- (LAUGHS) Okay. -(LAUGHS)
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Well, it started
when her neighbor-- This is what I read. It started when the neighbor
put up a "Fuck Trump" sign, which is obnoxious. Didn't she get spit on
and called the C-word? -BILL: Yes.
-Which... BILL: Is also obnoxious. Yeah, but when you buy a house
on the Jersey Shore, like, the real estate tells you
that's gonna happen. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING, APPLAUDING) -The ignorant--
-Ridiculous, Joel. JOEL STEIN: No-- You know? This is the problem
with America, though. We never actually talk
about the issue. You said the flag said,
"Fuck Trump." So, her actual issue is somebody
I assume she supports, right? Somebody put a flag up
insulting that person. How does it become
the flag's fault? -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING, APPLAUDING)
-Right. (LAUGHS) Americans, we never know
how to discuss the issue ever. JOEL: Like, instead of talking
to each other, we just put up flags. BILL: Well, they're better
than bumper stickers, 'cause you don't even have
to read three words. -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
-Really. It's that-- I will tell you,
I have been surprised and amazed
by the number of flags that I didn't know about -that exist in America.
-Yeah. BILL: You're talking
about the Pride flags? -No, that one I know about.
-JOEL: Yeah. -No,
there's like 12 of those too.
-No, there's like the-- Well, there's the one
that she makes up in her head. There's the--
What is it? Elevate to Jesus? -What's the one
that she flies in the--
-The Appeal to Heaven? -Appeal to Heaven flag.
-Right. Yeah. -There's the upside-down...
-The upside-down flag. We wasted, like, three months
of our country's time upset that you can't kneel
when the American flag is up. And now, you can, like,
turn them upside down and make them black and white. -Like, the rules have changed.
-That's what I thought.
I mean, well, I... I made that point
a couple of weeks ago, that the fact
that the Republicans can do anything
that is so unpatriotic, and they don't get called
for it. If a Democrat flew
the flag upside down... -JOEL: Yeah.
-They have patriotic immunity. It's just the weirdest thing. That's how I feel about
when Trump said he wanted to terminate
the Constitution to overthrow -the results of an election.
-BILL: Right. -Everybody-- That's the most
unpatriotic thing to say.
-BILL: Exactly. Somebody that wipes their ass
with the Constitution? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Charlamagne, this is for you. "Is Trump dangerous
because he's funny?" -Hmm.
-What the fuck? -Is he-- What?
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING, APPLAUDING) -No. (LAUGHS)
-No? Trump is dangerous
because at one point he was the president
of the United States of America and he's running to be president of the United States of America
again. If he wasn't, you know,
running to be in that position, he'd be
the most hilarious person -on the planet. (LAUGHS)
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING, APPLAUDING) -BILL: But...
-ANA NAVARRO: Is he-- I mean, do you actually-- You're a comedian.
Do you actually find him funny? -'Cause people are laughing
at him.
-Yes. Yes. -Unintentionally.
-Yes. -BILL: He's a scream.
-What? -If he were-- I--
-Oh, he's so funny,
but he doesn't know it. -Every time I--
-No, really. I mean, there are people
like that. -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
-Bill, I-- Listen... BILL: He has no... When I listen to him,
when he's talking in those rallies
about the sharks and the batteries,
I'm waiting for the men in white jackets to show up. But it's only 'cause
he's running for president. If he wasn't running
for president, you'd be like, -"This stand-up is amazing."
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING, APPLAUDING) It's the only thing, really. BILL: But he sounds... And I've heard you talk
about this subject before. He sounds like
more of a normal person. -Yes.
-And that-- I know you say
that the Republicans have a big advantage
because they communicate-- They talk like real people.
Yeah, I mean... Republicans are more sincere
about their lies than Democrats
are about their truth. Like, when you listen
to Donald Trump talk, you listen
to Marjorie Taylor Greene, that's what Waffle House sounds
like at three in the morning. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING, APPLAUDING) And sadly,
people relate to that. I don't... I... I gotta disagree with you
on that, 'cause I think
a lot more people disagree with having a fuck-up
in their family who got on drugs
than they do with paying hundreds of thousands of dollars
in hush money. -But-- Yes, I agree.
-(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) But that fuck-up in your family
on drugs is so funny when he's not stealing from you. -BILL: Right.
-(LAUGHS) -He's hilarious.
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Give him 20 dollars,
make him dance. -(JOEL LAUGHS)
-You never did that? Okay. -Um...
-(ANA LAUGHING) -Just me.
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING, APPLAUDING) "What impact will
the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the ban
on gun bump stocks have?" Okay, so... Look, I'm not the biggest expert
on guns... but I try to understand
and not just talk, because that, I hear a lot. People who don't know anything
about guns and talk about them. I'm trying to limit what I say
commensurate to my knowledge, which is not that much. Okay, bump stocks, I understand, are this thing you can attach
to a gun, and it basically becomes
a machine gun. And a machine gun
is illegal in America. So, I don't understand
how they could make this... -legal.
-Well, what the majority argued was that it wasn't
a machine gun. But if you go on YouTube,
anybody, go on YouTube and look at the same gun with a bump stock
and without it, and the amount of bullets
that can come out of it when it's got the bump stock
are immense, immensely increased. -BILL: Right. Yes.
-And so, I think it was Sonia Sotomayor who said it
in the dissenting opinion. The consequences
are gonna be lethal. The consequences
are gonna be catastrophic. And she said,
"Look, when I see a bird that walks like a duck,
looks like a duck, it's a duck." -This is a machine gun...
-Right. ...whatever you wanna call it. -And--
-When they are-- -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
-When they are... If Donald Trump thought
it was a machine gun, -Donald Trump banned
these things?
-BILL: Right. Yeah. I mean, these folks
have become so-- The Supreme Court
has become so conservative, -they're overturning Trump.
-(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) And yet, on the same day,
they ruled unanimously for the abortion pill. -No, they didn't. They ruled
that they didn't have standing.
-They had a standing issue. -Yeah.
-They didn't rule on the issue. But isn't
that essentially saying that-- -ANA: No.
-JOEL: No. It means that the people
who brought the legal action had not suffered any harm. It's like, you know,
it's like this audience bringing an action
for X, Y, or Z... And then Kavanaugh
kinda gave them a roadmap -on how to bring it back.
-I don't buy that argument.
I think the law is whatever anybody says they are. It's what they want to rule on, and then they will find
a reason. There is a whole fucking wall
of books behind them. If you can't find some law
in there to back up what you really want to say
in your ruling, then you're not a good lawyer. -And they do it all the time.
-(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) So, if they, for some reason,
they wanted to keep... The difference is, though,
that by not ruling on the actual legal issue, that legal issue
could come up again if it is brought by folks
who do have standing and who can prove that they've somehow
been harmed by it. What is the reason why anyone
would need a gun to fire -that many rounds? I mean...
-CHARLAMAGNE: A mass shooting. BILL: Well, but you can't
really give that reason. -I'm just saying...
-That's the reason. ...what is the rationale? But if you're going into--
If you're arguing this in court and you were saying,
you know, we really need these bump stocks
because, I don't know, my house is being attacked
by the North Korean army. -(LAUGHS)
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) I need to shoot
a thousand of something when I go out hunting. I don't understand where you even get
that rationale. It would be something involving
some type of fear. I don't know
what the fear would be, but it would be
something involving, -"This person
is afraid of something."
-JOEL: Zombies. -Zombies. Okay.
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) -(LAUGHS) Okay.
-(LAUGHS) Goddamn America.
We used to be a proper country. -Yeah, we did.
-We used to be a proper country. -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
-JOEL: There's a flag for that. -(LAUGHS)
-BILL: "Does Hillary Clinton--" -Wouldn't it be nice if that
was a question on the form?
-BILL: What? In addition to asking
if you're on drugs while you're buying the gun,
why are you buying this gun -that can shoot this many people
in such a short time?
-BILL: Right, you're right. -What's your rationale?
-Right. -What do you need this for?
-What's your reason? Right now, a lot of people,
as crazy as it sounds, a lot of people
would say civil war. -Like, you would be surprised...
-BILL: Yes. ...how many people stop me
in the street. -I literally had somebody
stop me in the street...
-BILL: That's it. ...and say to me
that regardless of who wins in November, there's going
to be a civil war. -BILL: That's-- Yes.
-And they were dead serious. And this was like a White guy
with some khakis and a polo on. -Like, he--
-Right. -He didn't... (CHUCKLES)
-(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) -He was serious.
-You're right. No, you absolutely hit it
on the head. That's what this is about. -They think the war is coming...
-Yep. ...and you're going
to need machine guns. Good night, everybody.
No, I'm gonna... -(PANEL LAUGHING)
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING, APPLAUDING) One more. Let's-- (CHUCKLES)
Such a depressing note. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) "Does Hillary Clinton endorsing
Jamaal Bowman's challenger signal that mainstream Democrats
are tiring of the Squad?" Okay, this is very
inside baseball, -for those who don't follow...
-It's very inside New York. -...follow politics.
-Yeah. Jamaal Bowman
is a member of the Squad. He's a Democratic congressman
from New York, very Far Left. He's being challenged,
and kind of anti-Israel. He is being challenged
in the primary by a more centrist Democrat who Hillary Clinton
has endorsed. That's the background of this. There's a split in the party. -It's been going on...
-BILL: Right. ...I mean,
since Bernie Sanders ran, but on October 7th,
it became very clear. It's generational,
and it's ideological, it's philosophical, and it's... I don't know
where it's gonna wind up. BILL: Well, it's gonna be fun
at the convention. -Is where it's gonna--
-CHARLAMAGNE: Yeah,
I know Jamaal. I wouldn't say Jamaal is--
I don't think he's anti-Israel. He's anti, you know,
the war that Israel is waging on Gaza, or, you know, what they call
a genocide, right? So-- It's not a genocide.
That's ridiculous. I'm not-- That's their language.
That's what they-- -That's their language
and it's erroneous.
-Yeah, that's their... And that's what he's against.
So, yeah, I think that-- -We're all against war.
-Yeah. At some point,
you have to make reasonable, practical decisions. If you think Hamas
should be wiped out, and they did attack Israel,
and they're avowed to wipe out Israel,
they're the ones who actually are saying
we would commit a genocide. -JOEL: And we do not want
a ceasefire.
-And we do not want a ceasefire, and we do not want
a two-state solution. If you think
they have to be wiped out, then Israel is going to have
to conduct this war. Do you think Netanyahu wants
a ceasefire? -BILL: No. Of course not.
-JOEL: No. -That's a problem too.
-BILL: He wants
to finish the war. So does everybody in Israel.
They all-- Even when they get-- Netanyahu's days are numbered,
but even when he goes, I know lots of people
who have been to Israel, -the policy will continue.
-JOEL: Yeah. They do-- It's like they have
to finish this war. But as long as Netanyahu keeps
this war going, he doesn't have
to answer the question of, "How the hell did
this happen in the first place?" -BILL: Well, he will.
-How is it possible... -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
-...that Hamas
was training hundreds of feet -from the border of Israel...
-BILL: Yeah. No, it was-- No. -...with the Mossad and
the intelligence capabilities?
-Absolutely. -It's a mistake. No, right.
-And as long as he keeps
this war going, he doesn't have
to answer the question. But to answer your question,
I do think Hillary is supporting
the other candidate because the candidate
is pro-Israel, and Jamaal
is labeled anti-Israel. -To answer the question.
-Right. Okay. ANA: But, you know,
we have to figure out a way to talk about this issue where we are not telling
young people that they're dumb. Because when people,
when we were young and people told us that,
it didn't work. So, I don't know how to do it.
I don't know how to explain-- -BILL: I do.
-How? I don't tell them they're dumb,
they're not dumb. They're ignorant.
There's a difference. -There's a difference.
-(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) There's a difference. To call someone stupid,
yes, that's wrong. Stupid, you can't help
because you're fucking stupid. -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
-You're just a-- Ignorant just means
you don't know something. We are all ignorant
of almost everything. There's practically
infinite things in this world you could know about. I don't know
about 99.99999 percent of them. CHARLAMAGNE: But calling them
ignorant would be a terrible electoral strategy. -BILL: It's electoral, yes.
-Electoral, yeah. -You know what I meant.
-Yes. Electorally, that would be
a terrible strategy. -JOEL: But electing
Far Left politicians...
-But it is the truth-- -What?
-...is a bad
electoral strategy right now. -BILL: And also--
-There's nowhere in the world where the Far Left is winning. The Far Right's winning,
centrists are winning, but the Far Left
isn't winning anywhere. The ignorance
is not their fault, because they let them
out of school that way. The ignorance
is the part of the people, the adults and the educators,
who don't do their job anymore. And they let you out of school.
They will sign that diploma, and you don't know
a fucking thing. -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
-Really. Certainly not about this issue. -No, they don't. Listen.
-CHARLAMAGNE: But-- -This is an issue that
is incredibly complicated...
-Right. ...that people in Congress
don't know about. -The people who, you know--
-They sure don't. To Ana's point, though,
they should find a way to talk about it,
because dismissing all of those young folks
is not going -to help them in November.
-BILL: That is true. And when you look
at what's going on in Michigan, when you have a bunch of voters
voting non-committed, I don't know how
they're gonna flip that switch come November
to say, "Hey, go out and vote." -ANA: Well,
they better flip it...
-But I gotta say-- ...because let me
tell you something, the last thing you want
is Donald Trump... -CHARLAMAGNE: That's right.
-...doing foreign policy with Netanyahu. They're gonna turn Gaza
into a pave-- You know, into a parking lot. It's not gonna be any better.
That's what I'm saying, like-- -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
-You know? But it's gotta
also work both ways. Like, the young people
have to listen to people who are older than them,
and not just say, "I don't agree with you.
You're old." "You're just saying,
'Get off my lawn.'" (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) -You know what? First of all--
-CHARLAMAGNE: Well,
they are saying that, 'cause they don't want them
protesting on the lawn of the college campuses.
So, they are saying, -"Get off my lawn."
-(LAUGHS) -I mean... (LAUGHS)
-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING, APPLAUDING) But what I'm always saying
to them is, "Don't say that to me.
Don't say you're old or you're just saying,
'Get off my lawn.'" Engage with the idea. Then I will respect you.
Engage with the idea. And by the way, you could
never get near my lawn. -All right.
Thank you very much, everybody.
-(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING, CHEERING)
