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HBO host Bill Maher on Friday criticized democratic socialism and warned of its potential negative impact on the Democratic Party, urging both voters and party leaders to steer clear of the ideology.
The "Real Time" host took specific aim at two prominent democratic socialists during his "New Rule" segment, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
"Democrats must recognize that Zohran Mamdani is the future of the party. Unfortunately, it's the Republican Party. Get it?" Maher joked. "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."
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While Maher admitted that Mamdani "seems like a nice guy," he offered a warning about the Democratic Party's increasing appetite for democratic socialist candidates. Maher urged that before the "whole left side of the country catches socialism fever," to take some advice from another "big winner" from last week's special elections.
"… Virginia Governor Elect Abigail Spanberger, who before the '24 election said things like, 'If the party didn't shift to the center, we will get torn apart.' And, 'We need to never use the word socialist or socialism ever again,'" Maher recalled. "Well, she was right, but they didn't listen. Typical, am I right, ladies?"
As the Democratic Party appears to be divided between its moderate and progressive wings, Maher asked, "How do we decide who's right?"
"It turns out we don't really have to flip a coin. We have the evidence. 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," he asserted.
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Maher pointed to Vermont's "collapsed" single-payer healthcare system as further evidence against the effectiveness of democratic socialism.
"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. But when liberal, tie-dyed Vermont tried to do it for a population of 626,000, it collapsed," he railed.
"Bernie, AOC, Mamdani are not Democrats. They'll be the first to tell you that they're democratic socialists," Maher continued. "And that's a very different thing. And I don't think people know that yet."
The "Real Time" host acknowledged that programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps are all technically socialist programs, but argued that members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) - like Mamdani - are far more radical.
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"All that is socialism. Much of it appropriate to soften the edges of capitalism. But the DSA are radicals about this concept. And radical economic policy is always ineluctably married to radical social policy," Maher warned.
While Maher was critical of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, he didn't spare Republicans either. He noted that Americans are "begging both parties" to "act normal" and find common ground on rational policy.
"It's either defund the police or military in the streets. Either MAGA's crypto-crony capitalism or city-run grocery stores," he opined. "No, I don't want that. I want a Democrat who reassures me, if you like your Whole Foods, you can keep your Whole Foods."
"You know, at this year's DSA convention, 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 asserted. " We've had enough of Trump's macho bulls--- and also enough of p---y politics."
The offices of Sanders and Mamdani did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Fox News Digital also reached out to the Democratic Socialists of America for comment.
