Bill Maher fires back after guest insults those who refused COVID vaccine: 'You're nuts'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A spirited argument broke out on 'Real Time with Bill Maher' on Friday, March 13, over the Covid-19 vaccine after host Bill Maher pushed back against a guest who suggested people who declined the vaccine were “nuts.”

The discussion began when former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci reflected on how the pandemic and the vaccine rollout deepened political divisions in the United States.

“Not only did we overreact, the whole vaccine controversy made us more polarized,” Scaramucci said during the conversation. “So it was a disaster on a lot of different fronts.”

During the conversation, guest Lloyd Blankfein, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs took a dig at those who refused the vaccines triggering a response by Bill Maher.

Lloyd Blankfein gets called 'nuts' by Bill Maher

As the discussion unfolded, Maher asked Scaramucci directly about his personal stance on the vaccine.

Scaramucci responded by clarifying that while he supported vaccines and had taken multiple doses himself, he also knew people who claimed to have experienced vaccine-related injuries.

“I’m not a vaccine conspiracy theorist,” Scaramucci said. “But I will tell you, I know people that have had vaccine injuries, so I think they rushed it.”

The discussion escalated when fellow panelist Lloyd Blankfein voiced strong support for the vaccine and criticized those who declined it.

“I was so glad to get that vaccine,” Blankfein said before adding, “I don’t like to judge, but anybody who thinks otherwise is nuts.”

Maher quickly challenged that remark, saying the issue was more nuanced than simply labeling vaccine skeptics as irrational.

“It’s not that I think otherwise,” Maher said. “For you, I’m glad you liked it. I didn’t want to get it, and I didn’t need it.”

Maher acknowledged that vaccines had saved lives but argued that not every individual necessarily needed the shot.

“I’m not saying it didn’t save millions of people’s lives, it did,” he continued. “But if you think everybody who got it needed it, you’re nuts.”

Lloyd Blankfein attempts damage control

Blankfein responded by emphasizing the public health implications of vaccination, arguing that individual decisions can affect others in society.

“The thing is, your infection can infect me,” Blankfein said, stressing that contagious diseases spread through communities.

“Something that had really gone by the boards is now becoming epidemic because some people are choosing not to get vaccinated,” Blankfein said, describing such decisions as “selfish and antisocial.”

Maher, however, maintained that individuals should retain the right to decide what medical treatments they receive.

“You’re saying you want to put something in my body that I don’t want in my body,” Maher said.

The comedian also argued that early messaging about the Covid vaccine had created confusion when claims about its effectiveness in preventing transmission later proved inaccurate.

“They told us that if you got the vaccine you couldn’t pass it and you couldn’t get it,” Maher said. “And they were wrong about it. You could get it and you could pass it.”