Bill Maher Shreds Socialism and Democrats Who Embrace It

Screenshot/X

Bill Maher had a stern message for Democrats on Friday: reject socialism.

The HBO host slammed New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and other leftists who openly advertise themselves as socialists.

Maher, who is on the Left, said this kind of branding would hurt Democrats.

Maher made his remarks as part of his "New Rule" segment.

The host said, "Democrats must recognize that Zohran Mamdani is the future of the party. Unfortunately, it's the Republican Party. Get it?"

"And if you missed his victory speech in last week's mayoral election in New York, don't worry. You'll see it in every attack ad for the next two years," Maher noted.

Maher said Democrats need to become more moderate and broke down recent Democrat electoral results.

He said he realizes the hard Left wants to be openly socialist. But who wins in that, long term? The moderate center or "democratic socialists" like Mamdani?

For Maher, the evidence was clear. "How do we decide who’s right?" he asked. "It turns out we don't really have to flip a coin."

"We have the evidence," Maher continued. "In 2024, 13 Democrats won in districts Trump also won, all moderates. This isn't rocket science. All the left-leaning think tanks have done autopsies on 2024, and they all came up with the same message. Move to the center."

The 'Real Time' host went on, "Democratic socialism is like a dating profile. Things look great until you meet up in the real world."

"For example, Bernie Sanders. His big thing was always bringing single-payer health care to our country of 340 million," he said. "But when liberal, tie-dyed Vermont tried to do it for a population of 626,000, it collapsed."

Good point. He detailed the many real world ways in which socialism has never worked.

And why self-identifying "socialists" in the U.S. won't work.

"Bernie, AOC, Mamdani are not Democrats," Maher said. "They'll be the first to tell you that they're democratic socialists. And that's a very different thing. And I don't think people know that yet."

Maher said of extremist Democrats,"It's either defund the police or military in the streets... You know, at this year's DSA convention (Democratic Socialists of America), or as it's commonly known, ‘Commie-Con,’ get this. You had to submit a photo of a negative COVID test to get in — in 2025."

"Yeah, no one wants to do that again,"he said.

So many Democrats think that the answer for their party is to become even more extreme. It worked for the new socialist mayors elected in New York City and Seattle.

Will that kind of messaging work long term? For Dems who believe it will, good luck.

Bill Maher says they're digging their own grave.