Bill Maher has admitted that he believes abortion is murder…but he also said he’s OKAY with that?! Glenn and Stu break down this unusual take: At least he’s honest, but is that a good thing? And why won’t the GOP be honest and take a real stand? Is being strongly pro-life REALLY an election-killer? Or is that a lie?
TranscriptBelow is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: You know, I would love to have a conversation with Bill Maher now. Okay? Bill Maher is -- he's changed.
And he has -- maybe not. He may not have changed any of positions. But I think he takes it more seriously.
And he's not going for -- he's -- I think he's had a change in -- you know, things are getting really serious here.
And we have to have honest conversations.
And for the first time, you know, I -- I look at Bill Maher. Can we play the clip we played last hour?
STU: The abortion one?
GLENN: Yeah. Listen to this, Bill Maher, just recently.
VOICE: The idea that you are fighting the election around this issue, seems to be, you know, just strange.
STU: Yeah. Really weird.
VOICE: Back to the 19th century.
VOICE: Well.
STU: Clap. Clap.
VOICE: None of you believe it's murder. That's why I don't believe --
GLENN: Nobody laughs. Nobody laughs.
VOICE: Or that Trump's plan is, let's leave it to the states. You mean, so killing babies is okay in some states? Like, I can respect the absolutist position. I really can. I -- I scold the left when they say, oh, you know what, they just hate women. People who aren't pro-life. They're pro-choice. They just -- they don't hate women. They just made that up. They think it's murder.
And it kind of is. I'm just okay with that. I am. I mean, there's 8 billion people in the year. I'm sorry. But we won't miss you. That's my position on it.
VOICE: Yeah, exactly.
VOICE: Not your position if you're pro-choice.
VOICE: Is that not your position because you don't like children?
VOICE: No, no, no.
You said you're pro-choice. That's your position too.
VOICE: Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
STU: That's totally true.
GLENN: Uh-huh.
STU: And, by the way, I completely agree with him on his point, the absolutist positions are the only ones that make sense. It doesn't make any sense to ban it at 18 weeks. And say, okay. I guess we banned 1.6 percent of abortions. I think our hands are clean. None of that makes any sense to me. But that's another story.
GLENN: So the reason I bring this up. For the first time, I think I'm getting to where Ronald Reagan was. With "Tip" O'Neill.
You know, the old story was, well, they could just hash it out. And really come at each other.
And then really go have a beer.
Well, I don't want to have a beer with AOC. Or, you know, Joe Biden.
STU: Disbar the world.
GLENN: It would. And we would need --
STU: You think the Star Wars cantina was weird?
Imagine you walk into a bar, and just Glenn Beck and AOC just throwing it back.
GLENN: Yeah. And believe me, if I were in the bar with AOC. I would not be starting with beer. Okay?
Bring the Jack over -- leave the bottle here.
So, anyway, you know, but I -- but that's because they're not honest.
STU: They're fake, yeah.
GLENN: Yeah. He's at least saying the truth. He's saying, look, I don't have a problem with it.
It is murder. It is killing babies. Bit I don't have a problem with that. And nobody likes that point of view. But at least he's being honest.
STU: At least he's being honest.
GLENN: You know, and you can disagree with him, all you want.
But as long as somebody is honest on the other side of the table, I can get along with them forever. It's my problem is, the progressives, because it's built in their name. Progress. Little bit at a time.
And they will -- they will deny their end goal. And because they deny their end goal. You can't talk to them.
You can't -- you have -- you have nothing serious. Nothing serious.
STU: Female voice that starts that clip is a great example of it. Like, I don't understand why they would want to fight an election on this issue.
It's just strange.
Is it strange?
The ending of life of children?
Is that a weird thing for you, to think about? During the election. I mean, I kind of find it weird, that fighting for the right to end lives much children. Is something you want to fight the entire election. But that's why they're doing.
GLENN: That's why they used to say, safe, rare, and legal.
STU: Right. And then they said, screw rare.
GLENN: Right. Because they used to -- they were more honest. Look, it's bad. It's really bad.
STU: We think it's the best of two horrible choices. Right? That's a bad position, and wrong to be --
GLENN: Correct. Now they're saying, it's a great choice. In fact, maybe the choice more people should make.
STU: And in some wisdom, that's more intellectually defensible than the other position.
It's like, if you're going to be Bill Maher. And say, yeah. Killing people is fine.
At least that's consistent. It doesn't make sense to say, I think kill people are wrong. But also, women's rights are the way that I will make this decision on this fetus.
GLENN: But that is the way to win nope it is the way to win.
STU: Exactly. It's not honest.
GLENN: But it is the way to win.
STU: Frankly it's the same thing going on with the Republicans right now.
The idea of having some sort of ban that takes out one or 2 percent of abortions. It's great to put a ceiling on it. Every baby that can actually be born, instead of dying is something that I am going to be happy about.
But at the end of the day, these decisions are being made, because people want to win elections.
Which is a concern. Right?
It's a legitimate concern.
I know a lot of people who believe. You have to stay away from the abortion thing.
It's just. It's an election killer.
Maybe it is.
But at some point, you have to think. Like this is a very basic life-and-death issue.
At some point, you just need to be able to say, hey. Like, I'm not going to fold on that issue.
Like, I don't understand why every single -- every single Congress, there's not a Republican proposing a constitutional amendment, to ban abortion.
None!
What if we take three days off the end, and make it a 22-week and four-day ban. Or whatever they're proposing.
Like, how is there not -- at least -- you know, it may never pass.
STU: But it should be proposed every single Congress.
GLENN: Yes.
STU: And should have a vote, every single Congress. It's not that serious of an issue.
GLENN: That's John Quincy Adams. He went back to Congress, to stop slavery. He was the president, and he went back to Congress to sit as a Congressman, and having to get votes every two years.
STU: Yeah.
GLENN: And he sat there. Just to propose an end to all slavery.
STU: Yeah.
GLENN: And he did it over and over and over again.
And it wasn't popular.
And he realized, at the end, you can't make -- you're going to have to have a war over this.
Because there is no progress.
Nobody is making progress on this.
They're all just talking a good game.
STU: And it was an issue that was so important, that that was --
GLENN: Yes, and you couldn't get people to talk about it for the same reason.
Nobody wants to think about this. Nobody wants to think about this.
STU: It's true.
GLENN: It's the slavery issue of our day.
STU: You know what, no one wants to think about it.
It's difficult issues you're talking about. Everything from sex, to all these impossible decisions.
And when Democrats have to think about what it really is, they have to face a lot of uncomfortable truths about their position. And what are the Republicans doing right now?
Well, what we should do is make sure no one can think about it. Because what if we lose this election, and I lose my seat.
The Republican response is to take the responsibility away from people on the left, who are advocating for this policy. And hopefully, making it so they don't to have think about it again. How does that change long-term?
Yeah, I got it! Maybe it gets you an extra couple hundred votes in your district. But how does that change things long-term?
How does this end, in children not dying?
Can you explain that? It doesn't seem to even be part of the plan for a lot of these people.
GLENN: It is the progressive way. That is the problem.
Republicans are progressives, as well.