Bill Maher warns Democrats that some on far-left want 'communism' after midterm sweep
Bill Maher warns Democrats that some on far-left want 'communism' after midterm sweep
Comedian Bill Maher doubled down on his criticism of democratic socialists Friday, telling his "Real Time" audience that "these people want communism" and urging moderates to reclaim control of the party following Democrats' historic sweep in this week's midterm elections.
On Friday, Maher spoke with writer and podcast host Coleman Hughes regarding the rise of socialist policies within the Democratic Party — and the partys apparent appetite for more moderate candidates — during the shows roundtable discussion.
"My issues are high rents and crime," Hughes said. "Socialists don't tend to be good on those issues because they institute policies like rent control, which sound good and then end up increasing the rents in the long run."
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"And we got a hundred years of data on socialism," Hughes added. "It's not good for the economy. It's not a new idea."
Maher appeared to agree with his guest, arguing that many of the policies pushed by socialist candidates are more closely aligned with communist ideology.
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"We already have a lot of socialism and a lot of it is appropriate," Maher said. "That's not what these people are selling, these far-left people."
Maher said some government services and programs — including Medicare, the Marine Corps and Social Security — fall under his definition of socialism.
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"It's anything the government does and the private sector doesn't," the comedian said. "You just read what they say in their manifesto. They want the government to take over everything. That is a prescription for failure."
Maher also argued that the sweeping victories by moderate Democrats could indicate a broader voter rejection of the policies advocated by far-left candidates.
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"To me, one of the great results of this election was it gave moderates a big stick to beat them off with," Maher told his audience.
He added that moderate Democrats could use their midterm victories to regain control of the party, while suggesting that the socialist agenda may not be as popular with voters as its supporters believe.
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"Who has the guts to say this is the Democratic Party, you are doing a whole different thing," he continued. "We already have a lot of socialism, and I'm for most of it. We need most of it, but these people want communism."
