Overtime – Episode #676: Van Jones, Gov. Jared Polis

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Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO Late Month series, Real Time with Bill Maher. All right, he's a CNN host and author of the Van Jones sub stack, Van Jones, and he's the 43rd governor of Colorado, Jared Polis.
Okay. For Van, what explains the fracture between Jews and blacks on the left and how can an alliance be restored? Well, I guess they're talking about the old 60s when Jews were prominent in the civil rights movement and went in the South and some of them got killed.
Longer than that, listen, 1909, blacks and Jews' backs were against the wall. We had actual apartheid here.
It was so bad that what we were doing in the U.S. South inspired Hitler

and inspired the Afrikaners in South Africa of what we were doing here.

Blacks and Jews, backs against the wall, created an organization together,

a Black-Jewish alliance, it was called the NAACP, okay?

Next year they created an organization together that we now call the Urban League.

So this has been, every decade in the whole last century, a disproportionate share of what was deepening and defending democracy were African Americans who believed in justice for all and Jewish activists who believed in repairing the world. And so we basically co-authored and co-created what you now call American democracy.
In fact, if you like American democracy, thank a black and thank a Jew. You're welcome.
So there is a deliberate effort on the part of Iran and Russia and China to drive a wedge and to make sure that every African-American under the age of 30... Well, they're getting a lot of help.
They're getting a lot of help from people who want to divide the world into colonizers and colonized and the oppressed and the oppressors. This is how a lot of the youth come to see what's going on in Gaza as some sort of extension of the civil rights movement in America when it has nothing to do with it.
But the thing is there's some dumb ideas on the left or some reductions ideas on the left, but we also have geopolitical adversaries that are jumping on that and making it worse than it should be.

And I think what we've got to remember is even if we don't agree on what's happening overseas,

black people can agree that hostages should be free.

We came over here as hostages. We're not for hostages.

Black people should be able to agree that hate crimes against Jewish people are wrong.

We stood up for Muslims they were getting jumped on after 9-11. We stood up for Asians when they were getting jumped on after COVID.
We just stood up for Jews. We should be able to agree that Hamas is not a freedom-fighting organization.
They are a freedom-taking Nazi organization. They did not deserve black support.
And we should be able to agree that both Palestinians and Israelis deserve a secure homeland. So there are issues that, even if we disagree with what's happening in Gaza, don't like Bibi Netanyahu, there are other issues that we should be working together on, and I'm fighting for that.
I won't add much, but I want to say, Kamala Harris, Doug M. Hoff, the Black Jewish Alliance.
Yay! There it is. It lives.
All right, for the panel, what does the panel think of Trump doing Joe Rogan's podcast today, and is it a mistake for Kamala not to do it? Yeah, I think it is a mistake. It's a mistake she didn't do this show.
Yeah, did you invite her? Yeah, of course. No, we didn't invite her.
Of course she should do. We would have bumped you for her.
I hate to say it. I hate to tell you.
I hate to tell you. Yeah, I understand.
There's still time, I hope, and I know she's going to be campaigning in Texas. I hope she does, the podcast.
I think the more people see of Kamala Harris, the more they like her. She needs to get out there.
I think some of that is a staff reticence that they had

because of Joe Biden, which you couldn't put out there.

We understand that. You can put her out there.

She's terrific. She's likable.
She's joyous. She's fun.

She's clever. Get her out there.

Right.

For a guy who's not an official surrogate,

you're on the waiting list.

What did the panel think of Trump's stint as fry cooker at McDonald's? And it's, you know, I mean, I already addressed this. You know, it's like they see him differently.
I think it's brilliant. I think it's brilliant.
Yes. I think when you have somebody who is a world-famous superstar, who's a billionaire, etc., etc., and they do something you don't expect, it's brilliant media.
And I think when you have somebody who is a world-famous superstar, who's a billionaire, et cetera, et cetera, and they do something you don't expect, it's brilliant media. And I think we've got to acknowledge that this guy is beating the pants off of us with these so-called publicity stunts.
It gets into everybody's feeds, and people who are not looking at politics will look at that. I think we just have to have more fun ourselves.
We were having a great time during the Democratic convention. If we have more fun, if the Democratic Party is a party of fun, people will join it.
We should be doing crazy stuff, too. And if I might add...
One more thing. It's like, don't immediately just go to, I hate him for that.
Yeah! Which is what... But everybody I know here in Hollywood does that.
And it's like, first of all, you look weak. You look weak.
You look like you're so easily gotten. Yes.
You know, you look like you overreact to anything. I think politics comes out of personality.
I'm going to do something extensive on this one day. But personalities.
Your personality first. I know people who are conservative politically because I know them.

That's just who they are. They're squares.

And that's okay.

And there are people who just, like, they think

Trump is fun like that. I don't get it,

but I don't get Taylor Swift.

You know, not that I'm

comparing them, but I'm just saying.

I bet you would have

bought me for Taylor Swift, too. You would have bought me for Taylor Swift, too.
Oh, and I knew you'd have to get it. And I knew we were going to be stacked.
Of course I would. Everybody else is turning you down.
I'd bump Kamala for Taylor Swift. I'm just saying.
Yeah, I agree with you. She's a classy person, and the success she's had, the influence she's had is amazing.
I just, you know, Nikki Glaser was doing my podcast, and I was like, I don't get this. You've been to 18 concerts.
Tell me. And she's like, the music is so amazing.
And she said, just watch the Eras tour. You know, it's a three-hour thing on Apple, I think.
And I, okay, I did not move the needle at all. I just...
This is not great music. To me, but that's just me.
I don't get her music, and I don't think Trump's jokes about Arnold Palmer's dick are funny, but other people do. It's not relevant.
So for those of us who love Taylor Swift and I'm a big Swifty, that is some of the fun that Kamala Harris is bringing into politics. So I did like a Swifties for Kamala

kickoff in Nevada where I was just campaigning for

her. We got all this energy exchanging friendship

bracelets and having fun.

So there's a lot of joy there,

Bill.

I know.

I'm not...

Knock yourself out.

I love all the joy and all the everything

that, you know, she does great stuff, but, you know, I just don't get the music. Thank you.
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What are your thoughts on the Menendez brothers potential being released on parole? And is it a positive sign for proponents of criminal justice reform? Well, what does it say about

the difference between, if anything, between now

and 30 years ago, how we look at the

law? And also, obviously, it

has a lot to do with the Netflix series.

I think it's Netflix that just came out, which

you know, I hadn't seen all of it,

but the parents, I mean,

I didn't watch too much of it, but

enough to go, oh, wow, I'd have

blown their heads off too.

And

they, you know,

Thank you. I didn't watch too much of it, but enough to go, oh, wow, I'd have blown their heads off, too.
And, you know, maybe these kids have been in jail for too long. Yeah, yeah, look, I don't know much about the case.
I know that Kim Kardashian played a role as well. And I think that people a few years ago were kind of laughing her off.
Oh, you know, she's not serious about this stuff. Kim Kardashian has become one of the most effective criminal justice advocates in the country, surprising a lot of people.
And I think we need more people who have that kind of power taking on some tougher causes. A lot of times celebrities get involved in like the, let's put mittens on kittens, you know, something nobody's going to get mad about.
And so good for Kim Kardashian. Okay.
What are the chances this election plays out like the midterms in 2022 when women came out to vote to protect reproductive rights? Well, I'm going to jump in first on that because I read an interesting story in the paper yesterday, which might not be so good for that, which said they thought when a lot of these states went medieval on abortion, there'd be less abortions, actually more, because pills. Women get the pills in the mail, the abortion pill.
Are you 486? I am. And also telemedicine.
You can get doctors in different states. So, like, it did not have the effect.
It's still wrong, but it didn't have the effect that people thought it would. So, therefore, it might not have the political effect.
I don't know if Democrats can count on this as much as they thought they could. Well, I think in Pennsylvania, because it's not a big issue there, I think we may not have the turnout.
But I think even though people have been able to get around it, you can't get around when you have a medical complication. And when you see these stories of women bleeding out in parking lots, those stories ripple out bigger than just the numbers, the qualitative impact.
On women turning out in higher numbers from your mouth, the goddess's ears.

But look, this is obviously a winning issue for Democrats.

There's no question that polls in Democrats favor.

That's men and women.

But it is not the only winning issue.

And I think when you do talk about choice and the right of people over their own reproductive health, you do have to talk about how you're going to help make sure that people can raise

their kids in a loving environment, free preschool and kindergarten, tax credits for families that can't afford it. I mean, all those things that go into really having wonderful families across our country, including empowering women to decide if and when they have children.
I'm for that. I'm for that.
Thanks. All right.
This week, LeBron James and his son, Bronny, made history being the first father-son duet who played together in the NBA. Okay, well, I don't even know what the question is.
I didn't like it. I was going to give you...
Tell me why. Why not? I'll tell you why.
I did one of my best editorials here one night talking about sports, the last bastion of utter merit. This is why people love sports.
Everything else is tainted. Modeling used to be just merit.
They'd have to go into a village in the Ukraine and find a 14-year-old. It was like freakishly good-looking.
Well, now a lot, even the models, you know, are nepo babies. Nepo babies in politics, Nepo babies in everything.
The one place where you could for sure know that the people who were there were absolutely the best, not only in the country, in the world, was sports. And this is the one, you know, the Lakers.
They're a great team. But they did this with Kobe's last year.

They made that more about that, his retiring, than it was about winning that year.

And this is, you know, it just, I don't like it.

Well, I don't know anything at all about sports.

Oh, come on.

I really don't!

Look, if Shohei Otani has kids, somebody's going to draft them at age two.

Because, I mean, that guy can play. Yeah, but if the kidani has kids, somebody's going to draft them at age two.

Because, I mean, that guy can play.

Yeah, but if the kid can't play,

he wouldn't make the team.

No, no, but I mean, you want to... There's no way that kid is on the team,

LeBron James' son,

if he wasn't LeBron James' son.

LeBron James wanted to have this moment,

this photo op, this first ever.

I'm a Nuggets fan anyway,

so if other teams, you know,

defy the meritocracy

and are waiting for putting sub-part talent on the field, more talent a Nuggets fan anyway, so if other teams, you know, define their autocracy and are looking for putting

subpar talent on the field, more talent than Nuggets.

All right.

And here's a follow-up question

for you. What about this, that

Columbus was a Jew?

Oh, hey. So, when I was

growing up... You didn't hear this? Yeah, Bill.
So, Bill,

when you and I were growing up, Columbus was a hero,

an explorer, discovered the new world. Of course, he was Christian and Italian.
The minute he became a colonizer, he became Jewish. I mean, seriously.
That's how it feels. That's a great answer.
I mean, no, if you missed the story, they dug him up. He was buried, I think, somewhere in Spain.
His body was first buried in the New World. Well, he never even set foot in America, but okay, somewhere.
And then they transferred it. I forget all the where it went.
But they dug him up, got the DNA. Of course, they don't know this for certain, but they're pretty sure that he probably was Jewish.
I don't know what... That had always been rumored in Jewish circles,

you know, like, was he?

Really?

Well, 1492 was the same year the Jews were expelled from Spain.

Yes, correct.

And it was also noted that there were some Jews on his voyage,

I think his translator was Jewish, so it was rumored.

But at that time, as I said, Columbus was a hero

growing up.

But yeah, it looks like he was verified

he was of at least some Sephardic origin,

so another tidbit for the history books. Van, what do you think of Puffy...
Puffy. P.
Diddy. And Mayor Adams in New York, both saying that they're just penalizing successful black men.
Oh, look, a rabbit. Look at this.
I'm sorry. What do you think? A rabbit.
No? I don't want to talk about it. I'm not that courageous.
Let's talk about Jews. What would happen if Trump won the popular vote but lost the electoral college? I think that would be the best thing in the world.
Because then they would have to...

They would have to...

I'm for popular vote,

and I think finally Republicans would then be popular.

That would be a good thing.

Thank you very much.