Bill Maher recently goaded Dr. Phil McGraw to admit that Donald Trump‘s redistricting efforts in Texas is some “bull***” on Real Time With Bill Maher.
On Friday, August 8, the late-night host sat down with interview guest, political commentator George Will, and panel guests, former Dr. Phil star and ESPN’s “First Take” host Stephen A. Smith.
During the panel segment, Maher directly asked McGraw — who Trump appointed the commissioner of his Religious Liberty Commission — asked the TV personality if he thought the redistricting in Texas was “some bull***.”
“In the past, states do this after the census, OK? You get the census every 10 years. You find out, oh, different number of people. Sometimes it makes sense. You have to redraw districts and so forth,” Maher said, setting up the topic.
He continued of the gerrymandering, “Now Trump wants a do-over. They did it after 2020 in Texas, and he’s saying because they found out that he got a bigger part of the Hispanic vote, that they could redo the districting, and maybe he’ll win those districts. They’ve got Austin voting Republican!”
Finally, Maher asked McGraw, “Now here’s my question, Dr. Phil, you’re from Texas. This is some bullshit, isn’t it?”
To that, the Real Story with Dr. Phil podcast host replied, “Was there a question in there?”
When Maher doubled down on his inquiry, McGraw responded, “Well, it depends. They’re not the only ones that have done this. The Democrats do it as well. They’ve done it in Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania.”
The late-night host pointed out that Democrats hadn’t done it after the census.
McGraw then added, “Oh no, no, it’s not always done after the census, it’s done between as well. And clearly, it’s done for reasons to change the distribution. Texas is doing it because they say because they’ve got more Republican voters now, they should have more representation. Is that bull****? Yeah, sort of.”
For years, McGraw’s politics have aligned with Trump’s. In addition to the POTUS appointing him to the Religious Liberty Commission in May, McGraw joined ICE raids in and around Chicago in January and Los Angeles in June.
Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays, 10/9c, HBO