Bill Maher Rips The Left Over Doubling Down on Dumb Ideas That Cost Them 2024 Election

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Bill Maher’s latest critique of the Democratic Party isn’t just a rant; it’s a scathing post-mortem of what he sees as their catastrophic missteps following a supposed electoral collapse in 2024. His message is clear: the left has alienated voters, doubled down on unpopular ideologies, and stubbornly refused to adapt to political realities. If Democrats want to remain competitive, they need to stop digging the hole they’re in.

Maher opens by calling out the progressive tendency to dismiss Trump voters as stupid, noting how even this rare concession—“just don’t say it out loud”—is often delivered with an air of condescension.

The issue, he argues, is that Democrats don’t have a monopoly on intelligence. He paints a vivid picture of ideological absurdity, from people still wearing “Queers for Palestine” T-shirts to the linguistic gymnastics of phrases like “person who menstruates.” To him, these examples highlight how far removed some progressives have become from common sense. It’s a kind of intellectual echo chamber, he says, where ideas are so inbred they’ve lost touch with reality.

It's amazing how an election loss, even as big as this one, still doesn't put a dent in the thinking that lost it. pic.twitter.com/6yjqldcDhQ

— Bill Maher (@billmaher) November 16, 2024

Education, a traditional Democratic stronghold, doesn’t escape Maher’s ire either. He accuses the party of turning schools into a joke, pointing to controversies over curricula and unions that have alienated even their base. This, he says, is part of a broader pattern: the Democrats are losing because they refuse to see the world as it actually is. Instead, they’re trapped in their own ideological bubble, mistaking their narrow worldview for universal truths.

One of Maher’s sharpest points is about race and identity politics. He cites data showing that Black and Hispanic voters—the backbone of the Democratic coalition—often hold more moderate views than white progressives. From skepticism about illegal immigration to a greater willingness to see America as a great country, these voters are often out of step with the far-left rhetoric dominating the party. Yet, rather than listening to them, Maher argues, the Democrats have leaned into a “Portlandia sketch” version of politics: privileged elites lecturing everyone else about privilege.