In a heated exchange, Bill Maher confronted Phil McGraw — aka Dr. Phil — about his involvement in Trump-era ICE raids.
The “Real Time” host was joined on Friday by the former TV therapist and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. The trio touched on a range of topics, including President Donald Trump’s plans to run for re-election — an act that’s illegal — and people using AI for therapy.
But things got tense when Maher turned the conversation toward McGraw’s recent actions.
“Why are you going on these ICE raids?” he asked. “I don’t understand that.”
Maher nodded to McGraw’s past in working to repair broken families in voicing his confusion.
“You’re a guy who we know for so many years who has been working to put families together. To bring families who are apart and heal them. And now you’re going on raids with people who are literally separating families,” he said.

McGraw immediately responded with, “Now that’s bullshit.”
Maher pressed further, asking if the Trump administration wasn’t “separating families.”
To which McGraw responded, “Look, if you arrest somebody that’s a citizen, that has committed a crime or is DUI’d with a child in the backseat, do you think they don’t separate that family right then, right there? Of course they do.”
“But that’s not what they’re doing,” Maher responded bluntly.
According to reports, McGraw was seen participating in an ICE raid in Chicago earlier this year.
As the exchange continued, McGraw turned to Maher’s opening monologue — where Maher mentioned “masked ICE agents” — and defended the coverings worn by these officials. McGraw stated that legislators “passed laws about immigration” and “funded those laws to be executed,” and now ICE agents are being doxed as a result.
“They’re putting their names, their pictures, their addresses of their families on the internet, they’re putting them on telephone poles,” he said. “So, of course, they’re wearing masks so they don’t get outed, so people can do violence against their families. The negative actions against ICE agents are up 1,000% in the last several months.”
20 Years OfFreeJournalism
Your Support Fuels Our Mission
Your Support Fuels Our Mission
For two decades, HuffPost has been fearless, unflinching, and relentless in pursuit of the truth. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 — we can’t do this without you.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
Support HuffPost
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
He also pointed to privileged access to “files” that, he claimed, justified his participation in the raids.
“They’ve got a rap sheet, 12, 14 different cases long of child predators that they’re taking off the street,” he said. “These are the worst first that they’re taking off the streets. Who would want them back in their communities?”
Maher agreed that he wouldn’t want “violent criminals or gangs” roaming free, but claimed that the act “pivoted” when ICE agents started going to places like Home Depot, abducting civilians “looking for an honest day’s work.”