One week after mocking DOGE staffer Edward “Big Balls” Coristine for getting assaulted during an attempted carjacking in Washington, D.C., HBO’s Bill Maher claimed to discover the real reason for President Trump’s use of the National Guard in the city: to prevent Democrats from taking office should they win the next election. This time, however, Manhattan Institute senior fellow Chris Rufo was there to push back by highlighting just how bad crime in D.C. had gotten.
Maher set Rufo up by explaining his theory that the National Guard deployment is part of a greater conspiracy, “Let me just describe some of the steps, and you tell me if I’m being paranoid. First, create a mass police force and get people used to looking at that. Normalize snatching people off the street, get them used to that. Normalize seeing the National Guard and the military on the street.”
He then added, “Then start talking about crime in the capital, which is, basically, you know, it's always been a fairly crime-ridden city. This is our nation's capital, where elections are decided. And then have, because the crime is so bad, have other states start sending their troops, not just the National Guard there in D.C., but now at least six other states are sending their troops, which then Trump can then federalize. So, you’re having many states' troops on the ground there, and now they’re under federal control.”
Putting it all together, Maher suggested, “So, you have in the capital a, sort of, permanent police presence. So, when an election dispute might come up, just hypothetically, I mean, I don't want to be a big pessimist, and I'm going to pretend for the rest of the duration that the Democrats do have a chance of winning and they might win the next election. I just don't think they’re ever going to take power, because this is what's going to happen because I think this coup was going to go off a lot smoother than the last one.”
Rufo was more restrained, “Yeah, I would disagree, and I think the stated reason is the reason. Look, Washington, D.C. has a higher murder rate than Baghdad, Kabul, most countries in Latin America, most countries in Africa.”
After Maher interrupted to say, “Also, less than some cities in America,” Rufo continued, “That’s true, but the difference is that D.C. is a federal territory, so he has authority and jurisdiction over the District. And if you look at since Trump actually mobilized the National Guard, you've had zero homicides, which is a record in the district of Washington, D.C.”
He added, “You have an 86 percent reduction in carjackings. I lived in D.C. years ago when I was a student at Georgetown. I saw a carjacking, a group of guys at gunpoint dragging some elderly people out of their car, beating them up, driving away, and so these are real things that affect real people, and there's a very simple lesson: broken windows policing, more law enforcement on the street, less crime. He's proving that, and I think he's challenging other cities that have huge problems as well that they should get a bit tougher and solve them.”
Trump has mused about the Guard being in D.C. for about six months. If that holds, that would mean the troops return home well before the next election. Besides, National Guard troops always arrive in D.C. in January of an inauguration year to help provide additional security, so Maher’s idea of a multi-year scheme to overturn a potential Democratic victory would be unnecessarily complicated. Rufo is correct. Sometimes the stated reason for something really is the reason.
Here is a transcript for the August 22 show:
HBO Real Time with Bill Maher
8/22/2025
10:23 PM ET
BILL MAHER: Let me just describe some of the steps, and you tell me if I’m being paranoid. First, create a mass police force and get people used to looking at that. Normalize snatching people off the street, get them used to that. Normalize seeing the National Guard and the military on the street. Then start talking about crime in the capital, which is, basically, you know, it's always been a fairly crime-ridden city. This is our nation's capital, where elections are decided. And then have, because the crime is so bad, have other states start sending their troops, not just the National Guard there in D.C., but now at least six other states are sending their troops, which then Trump can then federalize. So, you’re having many states' troops on the ground there, and now they’re under federal control.
So, you have in the capital a, sort of, permanent police presence. So, when an election dispute might come up, just hypothetically, I mean, I don't want to be a big pessimist, and I'm going to pretend for the rest of the duration that the Democrats do have a chance of winning and they might win the next election. I just don't think they’re ever going to take power, because this is what's going to happen because I think this coup was going to go off a lot smoother than the last one.
CHRIS RUFO: Yeah, I would disagree, and I think the stated reason is the reason. Look, Washington, D.C. has a higher murder rate than Baghdad, Kabul, most countries in Latin America, most countries in Africa.
MAHER: Also, less than some cities in America.
RUFO: That’s true, but the difference is that D.C. is a federal territory, so he has authority and jurisdiction over the District. And if you look at since Trump actually mobilized the National Guard you've had zero homicides, which is a record in the district of Washington, D.C.
You have an 86 percent reduction in carjackings. I lived in D.C. years ago when I was a student at Georgetown. I saw a carjacking, a group of guys at gunpoint dragging some elderly people out of their car, beating them up, driving away, and so these are real things that affect real people, and there's a very simple lesson.
MAHER: So, we really—
RUFO: Broken windows policing, more law enforcement on the street, less crime. He's proving that, and I think he's challenging other cities that have huge problems as well that they should get a bit tougher and solve them.