Bill Maher Clashes With Marjorie Taylor Greene Over Obamacare During Fiery ‘Real Time’ Interview

Bill Maher didn’t hold back when Marjorie Taylor Greene made her debut on Real Time With Bill Maher Friday night. The Georgia congresswoman, 51, joined Maher and journalist Michael Moynihan to hash out the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare — a debate that couldn’t have been timelier amid the ongoing government shutdown and expiring COVID-era healthcare subsidies.

With ACA premiums set to climb on November 1, Greene and Moynihan argued that Obamacare had directly fueled rising private health insurance costs and called for greater price transparency across the healthcare industry. But Maher wasn’t having it.

“I do know this: A lot of people had no health insurance, and then they got something that was relatively affordable called Obamacare. And the Republicans never stopped trying to kill it,” Maher said, adding, “And they kept kicking out different legs of this apparatus. And yet, it’s still popular and still works.”

He went on to mock the GOP’s longtime promise of a superior replacement for Obamacare, quoting Senate Majority Leader John Thune. “‘The president would like to overhaul Obamacare and give people health insurance that is higher quality and more affordable.’ Yeah, and I’d like to be able to dunk.”

Maher doubled down: “You act like it’s Big Foot, ‘We’re gonna find it.’ You’re not gonna find it. This is it.”

Greene pushed back, saying, “I disagree. I tell you. When you make the American taxpayer foot the bill for so many other people, it’s completely wrong. And that’s what’s been happening for years now.”

She reiterated GOP frustrations over covering “illegal aliens’ health insurance” and decried lobbying influence in D.C. as a blockade to real healthcare solutions.

Greene added, “I truly believe that we need to do a better job, and I wish that [Speaker of the House] Mike Johnson would call us back into session so we could actually do our jobs.”

The exchange marked a fiery first appearance for Greene on Maher’s HBO stage — and a reminder that, nearly 15 years later, the fight over Obamacare is still very much alive.

You can watch a clip above of Maher and MTG discussing Obamacare during a panel discussion with Moynihan, and stream the full episode, including the aforementioned interview, on HBO Max.

Real Time With Bill Maher airs Fridays at 10/9c on HBO.