‘Just Doesn’t Work And Has Never Worked’: Bill Maher Slams Democrats’ Shift Towards Socialism

Bill Maher warned Democrats Friday that embracing socialism would guarantee Republicans their next election victory.

The HBO host targeted New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders during his “Real Time” segment, calling them symptoms of a party moving dangerously to the left.

“Democrats need to recognize that Zohran Mamdani is the future of the party. Unfortunately, it’s the Republican Party.” » said Maher. “And if you missed his victory speech in New York City’s mayoral election last week, don’t worry. You’ll see it in every attack ad for the next two years.”

The failure of Vermont’s single-payer health care system proves that socialism does not translate from theory to reality, according to Maher. He pointed out that Sanders defended universal health care for 340 million Americans, but Vermont could not maintain it for 626,000 residents.

“The fact is, socialism is going to screw you over because socialism, to put it another way, just doesn’t work and never has worked,” Maher said. He highlighted Venezuela’s economic collapse after adopting Hugo Chavez’s policies, comparing it to Poland’s prosperity after adopting capitalism after Soviet rule. (RELATED: How America’s Largest Socialist Group Could Elect a Million Mamdanis)

.@LesDémocrates We must recognize that Zohran Mamdani is the future of the party, but unfortunately, it is the Republican Party. pic.twitter.com/XTgr0YNULa

– Bill Maher (@billmaher) November 15, 2025

“Democratic socialism is like a dating profile. Things look good until you meet in the real world,” Maher said.

Maher noted that thirteen Democrats won in Trump’s districts in 2024, all moderates. Post-election analyzes reached identical conclusions about the party’s path forward, he added.

“All the think tanks on the left have done post-mortems on 2024, and they all came up with the same message. Move to the center,” Maher said.

He distinguished between existing social programs and Democratic Socialists of America members like Mamdani.

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

Americans want normalcy from both parties, not extremes, Maher argued.

“We are tired of Trump’s macho bullshit and also tired of stupid politics,” he concluded.