"Real Time With Bill Maher” Discussed Blue Origin, Joe Rogan

There was a point in the concluding segment of Real Time With Bill Maher this week when Maher pivoted from an of-the-moment political subject to one of his recurring themes. In this case, the political subject was the question of whether the nation might soon see a mass expansion of factory jobs; the recurring theme was a dig at Gen Z. It was one of several moments where this episode covered relatively familiar ground.

The appearance of Douglas Murray, there to discuss his new book On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization, highlighted one of the more frustrating elements of watching Real Time: instances where Maher and his guest agree on virtually all points, in this case relating to Israel and Palestine. Here, too, the two men made a number of points that Maher had made in earlier episodes.

Things got more interesting when Maher brought up Murray’s recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, when Murray criticized Rogan for the extreme beliefs of some of his guests. Murray reiterated his comments critiquing Rogan, which opened up an interesting line of debate — but at that point, the interview ran out of time and the show switched gears to the panel.

There was a fair amount of agreement there as well, at least to start things out. Reason’s Matt Welch and Minnesota Senator Tina Smith were on hand this week; not surprisingly, both guests and Maher remained unsettled by the deportation and imprisonment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The concept of due process received enthusiastic applause from the studio audience, which was heartening to hear.

The discussion grew more contentious when Welch brought up Maher’s recent White House visit. Maher defended it, contrasting it with Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer’s decision to cover her face during a photo taken during her own visit there.

“I went in there and said, to his face, ‘You’re scaring people,’” Maher said. He went on to argue that criticizing the president directly is one of the only options available to people opposed to President Trump’s agenda.

“Life’s complicated,” he added. “I’m sorry I complicated your life for you.”

Bill Maher’s Dinner Was at the Center of a New “Real Time”

To be fair, the dinner was at the White House

Talk turned from there to the economy, as Maher revealed that he was hoping for a recession in the hopes that it would affect Trump’s popularity. The panel then discussed the way that tariffs can encourage corruption, as Smith spoke about a constituent of hers — a small business owner — whose business had suffered as a result of the tariffs and who didn’t have the same connections as, say, the tech billionaires seated front and center at the latest inauguration. Welch, meanwhile, revisited American history to remind Maher’s audience that the tariffs under the William McKinley administration abounded with corruption.

The panel concluded shortly after a comment from Smith that left her co-panelists temporarily speechless. Maher asked her what she thought of the recent all-female Blue Origin flight. “You’ve got to be really, really rich to spend that amount of money shooting your wife into space,” she replied.

Other notable moments from this week:

Maher on people dyeing potatoes for Easter: “That sounds like something my Irish relatives did after they shit in a hole and slept in the mud.
Maher on El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele: “It’s like if they gave Andrew Tate a country.”
Maher on rare earth metals: “They’re not rare, but they are hard to get, and I can’t pronounce them.”
Was there an entire segment dedicated to satirizing corporate sponsors for the White House Easter Egg Roll? Yes; yes, there was.