Elon Musk was called out by Bill Maher on a new episode of his podcast about his comments regarding the declining birth rate in the United States.
Newsweek reached out to Musk’s representative via email for comment on Tuesday.
Why It Matters
Musk is the world’s wealthiest man, with a net worth of $401.7 billion as of August 5, according to Forbes. The 54-year-old is the CEO of Tesla, founder of aerospace company SpaceX, and led President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) until May. He purchased Twitter in 2022 and changed its name to X the following year.
Maher, 69, is a comedian and political commentator known for his talk shows Real Time with Bill Maher and Politically Incorrect, as well as his podcast Club Random with Bill Maher.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images; Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Creative Artists Agency, LLC
What To Know
During Monday’s episode of Club Random with Bill Maher, Maher spoke with musician Rick Springfield about the Earth’s population. Despite Springfield’s granddaughter being born just a couple of weeks ago, the “Jessie’s Girl” singer said the world doesn’t need more people.
“I am really falling behind in this reproductive competition,” Maher, who has never married or had children, told listeners.
“We don’t need more!” Springfield said.
“I think that,” Maher responded. “And yet there’s a big movement out there—Elon Musk—many other people talk about, ‘We have to have more babies.’ This is like a thing.”
“Eh, everyone else is taking care of that,” Springfield said.
“But I think they’re wrong. I think we already have too many,” the television host said.
“I think we have way too many,” Springfield agreed. “The Earth cannot support what it has now.”
“Exactly, exactly. Right. Their argument is stupid,” Maher said. “Their argument is, ‘There’s plenty of room.’ There’s plenty of room. There’s not plenty of resources. We could fit them here, we just can’t feed them and take care of all their s***.”
“Exactly, where will all that s*** go? Where does all the food come from and where does all the s*** go?” Springfield asked. “It’s insane, there’s way too many of us.”
Maher appeared to be referring to Musk’s comments about the declining birth rate. Over the years, the businessman has encouraged people to have more kids. Musk is the father of 14 children.
At a Wall Street Journal event in 2021, Musk said, per CNBC: “There are not enough people. I can’t emphasize this enough, there are not enough people.” He added that the birth rate is “one of the biggest risks to civilization.”
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. fertility rate is forecast at 1.6 births per woman over the next 30 years. A 2.1 births per woman average is required to maintain a stable population.
Musk shared his thoughts on the topic in a June 26 post on X.
“People who have kids do need to have 3 kids to make up for those who have 0 or 1 kid or population will collapse,” he said. At the time of publication, his note racked up more than 43.7 million views and 173,000 likes.
What People Are Saying
In June, Musk hit back at Bill Maher after he said on Real Time With Bill Maher that the tech billionaire “developed a drug habit.”
Musk wrote on X: “I’m not on drugs ffs.”
What Happens Next
New episodes of Club Random with Bill Maher air Mondays on platforms like Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts.
