Comedian and podcast host Bill Maher recently sat down to interview Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, but it devolved into chaos after Ramaswamy asked Maher to identify which law former President Donald Trump allegedly broke in relation to his actions following the 2020 election.
The two were discussing Trump’s impeachments before Ramaswamy called the numerous indictments against the former president “deeply politicized.”
“I think they’re a bad idea for the future of the country,” Ramaswamy said.
“Well, let’s talk about the one that matters. The one where he tried to overthrow the United States government. You don’t think that that one—” Maher said before Ramaswamy cut in.
“You’re talking about the third one from Jack Smith?” Ramaswamy asked. “I believe that I would have — of course, I would’ve made [a] very different judgment than Trump made that day. But Trump expressing his view on the outcome of the election, even knowingly telling a lie, is not unconstitutional.”
“Great. Okay,” Maher said sarcastically.
“It’s not like a legal violation. Alvarez, the case which, in 2012, famously said politicians can have a First Amendment right to lying. Jack Smith’s indictment acknowledges that, which is the interesting part about this,” Ramaswamy said.
“Okay, but this is not what we’re talking about,” Maher said. “We’re talking about things like putting up fake electors. That’s not just words. They did that. A slate of fake electors. We’re talking about a guy on tape saying — this is the one that came down the other day about Georgia. A guy on tape saying, ‘I need you to find me 11,780 more votes.’ Now, that alone, if I just had that, wouldn’t that be a case? ‘I need you to find me,’ he’s saying to the—”
“They didn’t do it, right?” Ramaswamy pushed back.
“But that — yes! So I tried to rob a bank the other day and I didn’t get the money,” Maher said.
“What law — here’s where I’m at. Not every bad judgment or every bad act is a crime.”
“Oh, my God,” Maher said.
“What law did that violate?” Ramaswamy pressed.
“He’s the president.”
“What law did that violate?”
The conversation starts at 27:00.
“Probably the oath of office that he took when he would defend the United States. What is more—” Maher began before Ramaswamy interjected again.
“That’s not something you put — George Bush violated the oath of office when he sent troops to Iraq. This is why we vote people out. That’s how elections work.”
The duo kept sparring, with Maher arguing Trump tried to “cheat” people out of their vote.
Ramaswamy then brought up Hunter Biden “collecting multimillion dollar bribes from foreign countries.” Maher then sighed and reverted the conversation back to Trump, accusing Ramaswamy of treating Trump like his “boyfriend” and coddling the former president.
Ramaswamy pushed back, saying that he is in the race against the former president. The duo continued to argue about the indictments.
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