Bill Maher Gets Played by JD Vance on ‘Real Time,’ Admits He May Vote Republican in 2028

On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance visited the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in California, where he made some controversial remarks.

The author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” who once likened President Trump to Hitler before joining him as a running mate, took the opportunity to express support for Nixon’s legacy while minimizing the impact of his corruption.

“I think that his historical legacy is enjoying a bit of a renaissance — but I think deservedly so,” Vance commented about Nixon. “If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story. Like, the idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy.”

The implication was clear: Watergate would be a short-lived news story today due to the greater corruption seen in the Trump administration.

The next evening, Vance appeared on “Real Time” with Bill Maher to promote his new book “Communion,” which explores his faith. This appearance marked the first time a sitting vice president featured on the HBO show. Their conversation began with a discussion on Vance’s ongoing negotiations with Iran, which seem to be at a standstill.

“You’re negotiating for America. I’m rooting for America… Why is this different? Why isn’t it bullshit this time?” questioned Maher.

Vance claimed his negotiations were successful, citing a drop in oil prices to “73 dollars a barrel” and asserting that Iran’s “nuclear program is destroyed.” He added, “If they’re willing to change, we’re willing to change too; if they’re not willing to change, we still fundamentally have all the cards and I think that’s a good place to be.”

Maher countered, “But their nuclear program isn’t destroyed.”

“What part of it is not destroyed?” Vance asked. “The thing that you have to destroy is their ability to enrich uranium, which has been destroyed.”

Maher pressed further, “How do we know that? All the time it was, we gotta get in there and we gotta get the dust. And we didn’t get in there, so how do we get the dust?”

Despite Maher’s questioning, Vance maintained that the program was “functionally destroyed” without providing evidence.

Maher then shifted the discussion to the Trump administration’s ICE enforcement, aiming to get Vance to acknowledge its harshness.

“ICE, all that shit. Too rough. Too mean. Too unnecessary,” Maher remarked. “I’m not asking you to apologize… I’m just saying, you’d go a long way toward getting people who [have] just completely shut the door to you and your administration if you guys would just own that — that you guys went too far. You went too far, and you should own that like you owned ‘childless cat ladies.’”

Vance avoided a direct response, stating, “You can’t do a law enforcement operation like that without having some situations that are recorded like that… I don’t think there was an easy way to do this.”

Maher went on to tell Vance he might consider voting for a Republican candidate over a democratic socialist if the party would concede electoral losses rather than claim foul play, as Trump has done.

“If this is where the Democratic Party is going… this obsession with Israel, with the Jew-hating, with they don’t believe in capitalism, no prisons, if this is where they’re going, my vote is in play,” Maher said to Vance. “It’s either going to be you or Rubio. Here’s my dealbreaker for your side: Under Trump, you guys have two outcomes that an election can be, either we win or they cheated. That shit has to stop. And that means the person who has to stop it will be you, or Marco. Can you tell me you will do that?”

Vance did not provide an assurance.

“OK, Bill, so this is where I’m probably going to lose ya here,” Vance replied. “I don’t think we should not concede elections, but I don’t think that’s what’s going on… The biggest criticism I had of the 2020 election is that you had technology companies that were quite literally censoring negative information about the left and promoting negative information about the right.” (Nonetheless, right-leaning Facebook pages reportedly had more engagement than left-leaning ones during the 2020 election.)

Maher retorted, “Well, you’re going to get a big pat on the back when you go back to the White House.”

During their exchange, Maher appeared outmaneuvered, with Vance often taking control of the conversation. Despite Maher’s critical stance on the Trump administration, he seemed to handle its vice president more gently.