TV talk show host Bill Maher had Chrystia Freeland, former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and former Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on his program Friday night. Both former politicians are known to criticize President Donald Trump, with Christie an ex-ally of the American president.
[Note: At the beginning of the segment, Maher addressed the criticism he received after he had dinner with Trump in March — and reported after the dinner that Trump had been “gracious and measured” during their private meeting. Maher said, “Some people stopped watching because I had dinner with him. If you watch the show, who’s harder on him than I? No one,” an assertion the live audience greeted with applause.]
During the segment, Freeland asked Christie, “I want to know, what do Republicans say to each other when we’re not listening.”
Christie said that “so many of my fellow party members” approach him in the green room of ABC News This Week, where Christie plays political pundit with George Stephanopoulos and Jonathan Karl. In the green room, according to Christie, these Republicans say “you’re so brave, that’s so great, I totally agree with you [about Trump]. He’s nuts.”
Yet when the camera goes on, Christie says, these same Republicans say Trump is the best president since Abraham Lincoln.
This is the Overtime segment of last night’s @RealTimers A great extra period with Bill and Cynthia.https://t.co/8IEOPzYTEG via @YouTube
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) February 7, 2026
Then after their appearances on the show, Christie claims, the Republicans “come back in the green room and say ‘You know I have to do that, but like I don’t really mean it.’ That’s what they say.” When Maher asked Christie, “Like who, specifically?” Christie replies, “Alright, Bill. I’ll give you one, Lindsey Graham.”
[Note: Lindsey Graham has been a frequent guest on ABC News, appearing most recently on This Week with Jonathan Karl on June 29, 2025.]
Graham’s Democratic opponent in the 2026 South Carolina Senate election, pediatrician Dr. Annie Andrews, is amplifying the segment.
She wrote: “Did you all see Republican Chris Christie throw Graham under the bus?” Andrews added of Graham: “We know he’s literally in Washington, D.C. do to one thing and that’s to keep Trump happy.”
Did you all see Republican Chris Christie throw Lindsey Graham under the
on
? pic.twitter.com/d09K4ywupJ
— Dr. Annie Andrews (@AnnieAndrewsMD) February 8, 2026
Andrews introduced the Maher/Christie clip as “today’s episode of humiliating things that happened to Lindsey Graham on TV” and proceed to castigate Graham, who “used to stand for something” as a man who has, deep into his fourth term, lost his way.
Graham, Andrews asserts, “used to be, like, a respectable member of the U.S. Congress…and if he was still that man I wouldn’t be in this race today. But he’s not. He is nothing more than a career corrupt cowardly politician who stands for nothing.”
[Note: Graham won re-election in 2020 with 54.44% of the vote, defeating Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison.]