Bill Maher, the liberal comedian whose HBO program has long been a stage for political debate, reportedly turned his ire Friday not on conservatives but on members of his own party.
He accused Democrats — including high-profile figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York — of avoiding his show, while praising Republicans for their willingness to face tough questions.
“Thank you for being here. I always say that to my Republican friends. I say it every week. The Republicans show up,” Maher told Rep. Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, who joined him at the table on Real Time. “The Democrats do not. I say it every week. Stop asking me why the Clintons have never been on the show! They’re invited. AOC, all these people that never come. Ask them. Get on their case.”
CNN host Michael Smerconish was also a panelist on the episode, which blended Maher’s trademark sarcasm with pointed observations about the state of American politics.
Maher, who once styled himself as an outspoken critic of the GOP, offered unusually warm praise for the party, calling Republicans “happy warriors.” The comment underscored a recurring theme on his program: that conservatives, unlike many Democrats, are willing to defend their views in open debate rather than dodge the spotlight.
From there, Maher pivoted to the week’s political bombshell — the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. “You guys have been saying for a very long time that Trump just says stuff, but I mean come on. We’ve gone from just saying stuff now to, I mean James Comey,” Maher said. “You know, I was saying in the monolog, you’re not supposed to comment at all a president on an ongoing investigation. He called him bad person, sick guy, did terrible things, guilty as hell. Would you at least agree that we are in a very different place than we’ve ever been?”
Mace, defending the indictment, reminded viewers that Comey’s critics have not been confined to one party. “My perspective is that I don’t want us to rewrite history here.
In 2016, Chuck Schumer said of James Comey that he lost all confidence in him. So there have been Republicans and there have [been] Democrats who have expressed that James Comey has lied, has leaked,” she said.
Maher tried to draw a distinction between political criticism and a criminal proceeding. “That wasn’t talking about a trial,” he replied. “That wasn’t talking about an ongoing investigation. That was just an opinion about a guy who was the FBI director.”
Still, the exchange revealed what Maher has increasingly acknowledged: that mistrust of Comey spans the political spectrum, and that Democrats are reluctant to defend him — or even to appear on Maher’s stage.
By casting Republicans as confident participants and Democrats as evasive, Maher tapped into a frustration common among conservatives: that too many on the left prefer the safety of friendly media rather than open debate.
And in thanking Mace for her presence, he underscored the point that in today’s political climate, it is the GOP that shows up.
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