HBO’s Bill Maher kicked off Real Times’s 2026 run on Friday by claiming that Renee Good’s shooting “was an execution on the street” and lamented to Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy that President Trump won’t use his “cult leader” status to push “comprehensive immigration reform” now that he has proved “he’s the tough guy.” For his part, Kennedy was able to clear up that if you want to reform immigration, then Democrats need to come up with something other than “amnesty, amnesty, amnesty.”
Maher declared that “it is actually a good opportunity for him because he is that kind of guy. That is one of his strengths, I think. It is a cult, I'm sorry but MAGA is a bit of a cult… And a cult leader can change on a dime, as he often does. So, he could be the one because he has been so awful on this issue with— I mean, that woman—that was an execution on the street. I'm sorry, but it was."
Bill Maher kicked off his 2026 season by claiming the Renee Good shooting "was an execution on the street. I'm sorry, but it was." He also compares it to the 1968 "Saigon Execution" photograph. He then asks Sen. John Kennedy why Trump, having proved "he's the tough guy," can't… pic.twitter.com/IH6OQMC9eo
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) January 24, 2026
Reaching for analogy, Maher put a photo of the aftermath of Good’s shooting side-by-side with the 1968 “Saigon Execution” photograph that showed South Vietnamese Chief of National Police Nguyen Ngoc Loan shooting Viet Cong prisoner Nguyen Van Lem in the head, “When I sought, you know what I thought of? Because we are old enough to remember this? Show the picture. Okay, that is it. I'm going to describe this first because this is from the 60s. Remember Vietnam? The Tet Offensive and that ugly picture that we saw after? Show the picture. This is—everybody our age knows this. That's the first thing that flashed in my mind.”
Of course, a photo doesn’t tell the story of what happened before the photographer snapped the picture, and nobody understood that better than Eddie Adams, the Korean War Marine vet-turned AP photojournalist that took the picture Maher referenced, “Pictures don’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t tell you why.” Adams took a more nuanced view of his own photo, “I don’t say what he did was right, but he was fighting a war, and he was up against some pretty bad people. Two people’s lives were destroyed that day and I don’t want to destroy anybody’s life. That’s not my job.”
Back in 2026, the “why” is that Good drove her car at ICE Agent Jonathan Ross. Still, Maher continued, “So, okay, he made his point. He’s the tough guy. It gives him the opportunity now to be the guy who says, ‘Okay, I'm actually going to do comprehensive immigration reform because this has been’—how long have you been in the Senate?”
After Kennedy answered with one of his trademark Kennedy-isms, “Ten years. In dog years, it’s been about seven,” Maher proceeded, “Obama tried with a grand bargain. Why couldn't Trump be the one to get this done? You talk to him. I bet you could put that bee in his bonnet.”
Kennedy began, “You know what the real answer is? The real answer is immigration reform. That’s the real answer.”
Maher interrupted to protest, “But we did that, we closed the border.”
Holding firm, Kennedy resumed, “No, no, no. I'm talking about not only for illegal immigration, but also for legal immigration. And the truth is, Bill, if you're honest, and you are, we have let more people into America legally every year than anyone in the world. Because the whole world wants to come here. When's the last time you heard of somebody trying to sneak into China? I mean, they want to come to America. And—but we could do that better if my Democrat friends would sit down and talk with us. But when we sit down and talk, the first thing they want: amnesty, amnesty, amnesty. And that dog is not going to holler.”
It isn’t, and neither is the one that insists on legitimizing reducing a split-second, possible life-or-death decision from Ross into a still image for comedy show hosts to armchair quarterback.
Here is a transcript for the January 23 show:
HBO Real Time with Bill Maher
1/23/2026
10:22 PM ET
BILL MAHER: But it is actually a good opportunity for him because he is that kind of guy. That is one of his strengths, I think. It is a cult, I'm sorry but MAGA is a bit of a cult, and what it is— I mean, so is Taylor Swift, but okay.
KASIE HUNT: I’m in that cult.
MAHER: And you are in it? Okay. And a cult leader can change on a dime, as he often does. So, he could be the one because he has been so awful on this issue with— I mean, that woman—that was an execution on the street. I'm sorry, but it was.
When I sought, you know what I thought of? Because we are old enough to remember this? Show the picture. Okay, that is it. I'm going to describe this first because this is from the 60s. Remember Vietnam? The Tet Offensive and that ugly picture that we saw after? Show the picture.
This is—everybody our age knows this. That's the first thing that flashed in my mind. Just, okay. So, okay, he made his point. He’s the tough guy. It gives him the opportunity now to be the guy who says, "Okay, I'm actually going to do comprehensive immigration reform because this has been"—how long have you been in the Senate?
JOHN KENNEDY: Ten years.
MAHER: Okay, this has been on the table—
KENNEDY: In dog years it's been about seven.
MAHER: And before Obama tried with a grand bargain. Why couldn't Trump be the one to get this done? You talk to him. I bet you could put that bee in his bonnet.
KENNEDY: You know what the real answer is? The real answer is immigration reform. That’s the real answer.
MAHER: But we did that, we closed the border.
KENNEDY: No, no, no. I'm talking about not only for illegal immigration, but also for legal immigration. And the truth is, Bill, if you're honest, and you are, we have let more people into America legally every year than anyone in the world. Because the whole world wants to come here.
MAHER: Yeah.
KENNEDY: When's the last time you heard of somebody trying to sneak into China? I mean, they want to come to America. And—but we could do that better if my Democrat friends would sit down and talk with us. But when we sit down and talk, the first thing they want: amnesty, amnesty, amnesty. And that dog is not going to holler.
