HBO’s Bill Maher welcomed former CNN anchor Don Lemon to Friday’s edition of Real Time where he did his best to make Lemon feel better about his federal indictment, where he is alleged to have violated the rights of Minnesota church attendees by disrupting their service and intimidated the pastor. According to Maher, the charges are “powerful bullshit.”
Maher began by inviting Lemon to take a victory lap, “Don, I see you’re in the news quite a bit lately. Oh, I was at the Clive Davis Grammy Party when Clive introduced you, and you got the biggest ovation in the room. Kristi Noem fired this week. Do you feel vindicated? Do you feel like doing the Trump dance now? Do you want to be jerking off two guys at once?”
Bill Maher tells Don Lemon that on church incursion “they said that you stood in close proximity to the pastor and attempted to oppress and intimidate him? That’s some powerful bullshit there, isn’t it?” A thankful Lemon tells him “I’m glad you can see through that.” pic.twitter.com/aMn93bA9YH
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 7, 2026
Lemon declined, “Not until Pam Bondi is. Then I’ll do the double BJ.”
Speaking of Bondi, Maher continued, “But Pam Bondi, she this week announced federal charges against 30 more people accused of civil rights violations there in the Minnesota church you were in. So, it explains, the pastor there was, we think was part of ICE? That’s why the protest was going on there?”
Maintaining the narrative that he is just a simple journalist, Lemon replied, “Well, according to the protest group, one of the pastors was, I think, a regional director for ICE in that region.”
Maher then touched on the allegations against Lemon, “Pastors do that? Pastors are also regional directors of ICE? There’s things going on in this country—I’m just—I try to keep up with the news, and I’m—and they said that you stood in close proximity to the pastor and attempted to oppress and intimidate him? That’s some powerful bullshit there, isn’t it? I mean—”
An appreciative Lemon answered, “I’m glad you can see through that.”
The truth is Lemon joined a crowd of people in invading private property and refused to leave when asked. If, during this interview, an audience member stormed the set with his phone and started videotaping it while asking Lemon questions, nobody would describe that person as a journalist.
Here is a transcript for the March 6 show:
HBO Real Time with Bill Maher
3/6/2025
10:38 PM ET
BILL MAHER: Don, I see you’re in the news quite a bit lately.
DON LEMON: Am I?
MAHER: Oh, I was at the Clive Davis Grammy Party when Clive introduced you ,and you got the biggest ovation in the room. Kristi Noem fired this week. Do you feel vindicated? Do you feel like doing the Trump dance now? Do you want to be jerking off two guys at once?
LEMON: Not until Pam Bondi is. Then I’ll do the double BJ.
MAHER: But Pam Bondi, she this week announced federal charges against 30 more people accused of civil rights violations there in the Minnesota church you were in. So, it explains, the pastor there, was, we think was part of ICE? That’s why the protest was going on there?
LEMON: Well, according to the protest group, one of the pastors was, I think, a regional director for ICE in that region.
MAHER: Pastors do that? Pastors are also regional directors of ICE? There’s things going on in this country—I’m just—I try to keep up with the news, and I’m—and they said that you stood in close proximity to the pastor and attempted to oppress and intimidate him? That’s some powerful bullshit there, isn’t it? I mean—
LEMON: I’m glad you can see through that.
MAHER: I mean, so where are you now? I know they arrested you out here, right, and then what happened? You went to jail for a minute?
LEMON: I went to the federal courthouse and I was in, you know, an isolation room or room by myself and—
MAHER: Really?
LEMON: Yeah, yeah, I had to spend the night in jail.
MAHER: Like Steve McQueen in—throw the ball against the wall like in—
LEMON: I spent the night in a holding room in—at the federal courthouse.
