Bill Maher rips Elon Musk over declining birth rates

Elon Musk’s concerns about global population decline drew fresh criticism from comedian and political commentator Bill Maher, who dismissed the tech billionaire’s warnings as misguided on a recent episode of his podcast.

Falling birth rates

With a net worth of $401.7 billion as of August 5, according to Forbes, Musk, 54, has repeatedly argued that falling birth rates pose a serious threat to civilization. Over the years, Musk — who has 14 children — has encouraged people to have larger families, calling declining fertility “one of the biggest risks to civilization.”

Bill Maher’s podcast

On a recent episode of Club Random with Bill Maher, the 69-year-old host spoke with musician Rick Springfield about the future of the planet and whether population growth is sustainable. Springfield, who recently became a grandfather, argued that the Earth is already overpopulated. “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 responded. Maher then referenced Musk’s frequent calls for higher birth rates, saying, “I think that. 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.” Replied Springfield, “Eh, everyone else is taking care of that.” Said Maher, “But I think they’re wrong. I think we already have too many.” Agreed Springfield, “I think we have way too many. The Earth cannot support what it has now.”

Maher vs. Musk

Maher pressed further, rejecting Musk’s claim that the planet has ample space for more people. “Exactly, exactly. Right. Their argument is stupid. 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***.” Chimed in Springfield, “Exactly, where will all that s*** go? Where does all the food come from, and where does all the s*** go? It’s insane, there’s way too many of us.” Musk has frequently highlighted what he sees as the dangers of shrinking populations. At a 2021 Wall Street Journal event, he stressed, “There are not enough people. I can’t emphasize this enough, there are not enough people.”

Musk responds

Recently, Musk posted 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.” His post drew more than 43.7 million views and 173,000 likes. This is not the first clash between Maher and Musk. In June, the comedian said on Real Time with Bill Maher that the billionaire had “developed a drug habit.” Musk fired back on X, writing, “I’m not on drugs.”

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