Comedian and podcast host Bill Maher sparred with author Fran Lebowitz in his upcoming “Club Random” podcast on COVID-19 vaccines.
Lebowitz said she once encountered a set of ridiculous smoking and drinking rules at a restaurant, prompting Maher to liken the situation to the rules that were put in place during the pandemic, which he said made no sense.
“Maybe [your story] makes people understand why some of us, who called out a lot of the nonsense with how we handled COVID, were so skeptical, because we’ve done stupid health theater for a long time, it’s not new, we’ve handled almost every health crisis badly, not all of them, and … I found it just arrogant to have such a bad record in the past with health matters and just tell me, ‘Just do what we say, when have we ever been wrong?’ and then, ‘Oh, okay, we’re washing the mail,” Maher said. “And they told us, you know, ‘Wear any kind of mask, they’re all good.'”
“I’m not up on which COVID rules you were opposed to,” Lebowitz responded.
“They all turned out to be stupid,” Maher said. “They just did a study. The masks, unless they were N-95 — and maybe not even them — useless.” (RELATED: Employees Fired For Refusing COVID Vaccine Labeled With ‘Problem Codes’ That Were Sent To FBI, Legal Group Says)
“I stopped wearing a mask when you didn’t have to wear it anymore,” Lebowitz said. “But the vaccines, good, I’m glad there were vaccines.”
“Yes, I’m glad there were vaccines. You know, if that’s your choice, great,” Maher said. “But, please do not insist on insisting what I put in my body, there are some vaccines I would love to have and might need and would fight you for, but I should be able to make my own medical decisions.”
This photo shows a vial of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, Bivalent, at AltaMed Medical clinic in Los Angeles, California, on October 6, 2022. (Photo by RINGO CHIU / AFP) (Photo by RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty Images)
Lebowitz then suggested nurses should be required to get the vaccine, with Maher arguing European countries “recognized natural immunity.”
Dr. Anthony Facui admitted in a recently published research paper that the vaccines could not have been rationally expected to control the pandemic. Fauci repeatedly emphasized during the pandemic that getting vaccinated would help stop the spread of the virus, and that it was an important step towards ending the pandemic.
The episode airs Monday.
