Add Bill Maher to the list of podcasters sympathetic to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s fledgling campaign—anti-vaccine sentiments be damned.
The long-shot Democratic candidate appeared on Maher’s Club Random podcast on Sunday, where the HBO host tore into The New York Times for a story earlier this month that noted his right-wing tendencies. He claimed to Kennedy that the paper’s declarative language on his views—referred to as “conspiracy theories” and “misinformation”—had no place in the news pages of the Times and commended the candidate for sticking to his beliefs on vaccines.
“The guts and the integrity to take that stand and stick by your guns,” Maher said. “You lose the New York Times, family, that to me is a pair of balls.”
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Maher then lightly challenged Kennedy over his views on vaccines, on the one hand appearing sympathetic to his views and at the same time questioning how Kennedy can stand by his skepticism even when studies have praised vaccines’ efficacy.
“Why have they done many, many studies—including ones that were not funded by the pharmaceutical industry and including ones from other countries—that all found out, they all came to the inclusion that autism, no connection to vaccines at all?” Maher asked.
Kennedy began to push back, saying there were epidemiological studies, when Maher interjected: “So they’re just lying when they say there are no studies [that link autism to vaccines]?”
“Of course,” Kennedy said. “On the side that shows autism is caused by vaccines, there are over 100 studies.”
Maher tried to determine how Kennedy was going to explain such “complex” views on a debate stage when Kennedy noted that President Joe Biden was unlikely to debate him—offering no explanation for how voters can distill his views in an understandable, or scientifically sound, way.
Later, the two discussed the nature of COVID-19 vaccines. Maher conceded that he only got his shot so that he could return to work and shared his personal view that getting multiple injections of the vaccine further increases one’s risk of COVID-19. Still, Maher noted that the vaccine likely lessened the impact the virus had on his immune system—indicating its effectiveness. “Do you think that’s possible at all?” Maher probed Kennedy, seemingly seeking a concession.
Kennedy tried to cite a Cleveland Clinic study that supported Maher’s belief, though a study author told Factcheck.org the observational study was not intended to determine that and there were numerous factors that could have led to that result. When acknowledging vaccines, Kennedy was blunt.
“Are you better off avoiding death or serious hospitalization?” Kennedy said. “My belief about that is there is no advantage to the vaccine although, you know, there are claims that there are.”
Maher pushed back, noting that while he would rather have the liberty to choose which shots he receives, some vaccines could be useful. “There’s advantages for some and not others,” Maher said.
Both men have a shared history of anti-vaccine sympathies. During a 2015 episode of his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher also praised Kennedy for “championing” the anti-vax cause and spurring a debate on the issue (regardless of its foundation in reality). He also cast doubt in a 2003 segment on his show about the potential for a pandemic.
The new interview also came weeks after Kennedy appeared on podcast provocateur Joe Rogan’s show, where he also flouted his anti-vax beliefs. After Dr. Peter Hotez (a COVID-19 vaccine developer and Daily Beast contributor) criticized Rogan’s decision to host the candidate, Rogan promised to donate $100,000 to a charity of Hotez’s choice if the doctor agreed to debate Kennedy. Hotez refused.