Bill Maher makes startling admission to JD Vance about the future of his Democratic support

[Wiz Imp]

Sorry for a post about Maher, but I thought this was newsworthy plus shows how pathetic Maher has become.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bill-maher-makes-startling-admission-to-jd-vance-about-the-future-of-his-democratic-support/ar-AA26FQhY?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=b9a73dfe648c482a9f1ee13d56c03617&ei=15

“Real Time” host Bill Maher, speaking with Vice President JD Vance Friday, maligned the recent election victories in New York by three democratic socialist candidates and said his vote may soon land with a different party.

“If this is where the Democratic Party is going, with the democratic socialists. This obsession with Israel, the Jew hating, with, they don’t believe in capitalism, no prisons. If this is where they’re going, my vote is in play,” Maher said.

“OK, I like to hear that,” Vance said.

Maher added that he has always considered both parties when casting his vote, but has previously always come down on the side of the Democrats.

[dem4decades]

1. Your post should be the reason Maher is banned here, he's now advocating

Not voting for Democratic candidates. Isn't that rule number one here, advocate for Democrats, Maher is not doing that.

[Wiz Imp]

13. That didn't immediately occur to me, but you're right.

[dem4decades]

15. I'm not saying your post should be removed, just that Maher should be banned

Because of what he said in your post. It's kind of convoluted isn't it.

[Wiz Imp]

25. I understood what you meant.

I don't understand why people continue to promote Maher on here. It's one thing to report on something stupid he said or did - I think that is fine. But for people to continue to promote his show every week is insane. They might as well promote Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly & Steve Bannon's shows as well. At this point, Maher's continued comments on Democrats have much more in common with those fascists.

[groundloop]

2. Hating what the Isreali government has done is not the same as hating Jewish people.....

although the criminal Netanyahu will certainly argue otherwise.

[Hey Joe]

3. I'm sure the cruel fascism of what is left of the

Repugnican party is more in line with that
smarmy lickspittle.
Fuck off Maher. We’re better without your ilk.

[dem4decades]

17. The perfect description of Maher, a swarmy lickspittle.

And I don't even know what that is, but I'm pretty sure it's a good description.

[Ponietz]

27. Nasty Nellie Oleson is a smarmy lickspittle

[Hey Joe]

53. A lickspittle is a suck up.

Yeah, it kinda fits.

[UpInArms]

4. Maher added that he has always considered both parties when casting his vote

he is a pisspoor excuse for someone who pretends to be smart

I closed the door on him when he swooned over Ann Coulter

[dem4decades]

19. Pretends to be smart - perfect.

[Lovie777]

5. Wow......

what a surprise………

NOT.

[Ritabert]

6. Hey Maher nobody cares. You're irrelevant.

[Ponietz]

7. That's the problem when I read Israel is spending millions for influence here in the US

I presume he’s being paid to say that. It’s naive to take at face value anything this talking head says.
An ad disguised as editorial opinion.
It’s pretty curious when the outrage is coming from our so-called center.

[LessAspin]

8. Pretty Shocking

Shocked

Would not take Bill Maher as the type to suck up to his new corporate overlords

[Cha]

51. And, currying favor with JD Vance. What a surprise. Maher just told

the whole country that's watching that he supports Pedophilia, Rape protectors, Homicidal maniacs, Heists of Billions of $$$$$ from the American people, Pathological Liars, Killing Americans in the Streets, etc etc ad nauseam.

[Cheezoholic]

9. Like I said in another post, he's playing the room like a rookie stand up. He's going where the cash is for him

Guess whose gonna be his soon new boss?

[Wiz Imp]

30. Thing is, it makes no sense to be kissing up to Vance.

The guy clearly has absolutely zero future in politics.

[lame54]

10. What is Bill's kompromat?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. why would you think he's not being his authentic self?

[lame54]

18. Because he hated Bush for...

How big an idiot he was
Trump is 100 times the idiot
And he can surely see the dems are the only thing keeping us from full blown fascism
He used to fear how dangerous Trump is
One dinner later he is on team Trump
What did Trump show him?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

24. And now he says he'd love to have Bush on his show and that maybe Bush's plan to privatize social security wasn't the

worst idea in the whole world. He's just amoral.

[3_Limes]

11. Boy. Good thing he has such staunch support here!

He really backs our causes!! Totally supports the Dem outlook! Let's make sure we advertise his show every single week!!

[BannonsLiver]

12. Basically a lock at this point that Bill will be all in on JD or Marco is 2028.

[Midnight Writer]

16. I missed something. Where are the Democrats wanting to do away with capitalism and prisons?

Does he really think there are more "Jew haters" in the Democratic Party than in the Republican Party?

I reckon he is OK with Republicans spreading hateful lies about immigrants eating dogs and cats, he is OK with reviving Jim Crow policies, he is OK with punishing women by denying them basic healthcare and taking away their voting rights.

He is afraid of something that is not happening while blissfully accepting the things that are actually happening.

[dem4decades]

20. I guess he's either a whore or an idiot.

[Wiz Imp]

28. Darializa Avila Chevalier who won a primary for Congress in NY this week

has called for abolition of prisons. The thing is, though, that she is just one person. I'm not aware of any other Democrats who have called for that. So Maher is applying the opinions of one person and saying it represents evryone in the Democratic party. Talk about dishonest.

Also, the calling for abolishing prisons is a much more complex issue than the people who latch on to it as a soundbite to condemn all Democrats make it out to be. Here's a response from Chevalier when asked about it by the NY Times editorial board. She doesn't directly answer the question, but it's clear that there is more to it than the haters would have you believe.
https://nyeditorialboard.substack.com/p/darializa-avila-chevalier-on-housing

Nicole Gelinas
Just speaking of human rights and human dignity, you’ve been a prison abolitionist, a decarceralist. What should happen to somebody who has killed somebody else? I mean, I went to a sentencing last week, a man killed another man, didn’t know the person, just sitting on a stoop, got a 18-year prison sentence. Should that person not go to prison? And what should happen instead?

Darializa Avila Chevalier
So, you know, for prison abolitionists, I think a lot of folks misunderstand what that vision of the world actually is. And it is one that actually centers this question of harm. At the heart of what we’re asking is: What, why is it that there is so much harm in our society?

And how do we, A, prevent it, and B, deal with it when it happens. And as someone who has worked with folks who have been incarcerated, who have felt ostracized, for lack of a better term, by so many facets of our society for being poor, for being Black, for being Latino. I work at a public defender’s office where most of our clients are incredibly poor Black and brown New Yorkers. And for so many, the crimes that they’re being indicted for are crimes of poverty, or the effects of poverty.

And when I think about this question of harm, I think how do we create a society where people feel so safe that they don’t need to pick up the phone and call the police. And when harm does happen, how do we actually create repair? Because what we have right now is a system in whenever harm happens, there’s more harm being perpetrated, not only on the folks who engaged in the harm, but also on the victims of the harm. I’m someone who has actually been the victim of crimes, of violence, and gone to the police as a young person thinking, doing the thing that society told me to do, and all that did was traumatize me more.

Josh Greenman
But what do you do to the murderer though? Or what do you do—

Darializa Avila Chevalier
But and so I’m trying to answer the question, which is that— What we do is that we then put people behind bars in incredibly traumatizing conditions in a context where they cannot actually reflect on the harm that they caused or feel any remorse on that because they’re just trying to survive inside, and they’re being re-traumatized day after day after day while inside. And then when they’re released, they’re bringing that trauma back to our community, and that is having a reverberating effect on everyone in our society. And so as an abolitionist, you know, when you think about this question of harm, we have to think not only about interrupting that cycle of harm but also preventing it from the onset. And part of that has to do with thinking about, what are the systems that actually reduce that harm from happening in the first place?

And I have spoken to clients at public defender’s office where you hear the larger story of what happened, and it was folks who were under so much stress from the conditions that they were facing that they lashed out in a way that was out of character, in ways that they deeply regret. They don’t have a way to actually repair now because they don’t have a pathway towards that. You see folks who just need access to medical care. I had, at one of the jobs I had many years ago, a client who would actually intentionally get arrested because being on Rikers was the only way that he could get access to his bipolar medication. And this is a reflection of a larger failure of our system to actually protect our people from harm, to think about harm in a more expansive way, and actually address it meaningfully and effectively.

Josh Greenman
But, did we answer what happens to the murderer? Do you not incarcerate the murderer?

Darializa Avila Chevalier
You know, again, I’m talking about this question between the distance between the world we want to see and the world that we’re at. And tomorrow, you know, when that instance happens, that [incarceration] is what’s going to happen, right? And I don’t think anyone in society questions that that’s what’s going to happen.

Ben Smith
But can you get a little less abstract? Like she was watching a jury vote on the guy’s guilty, should he be sentenced or not?

Darializa Avila Chevalier
Well, this is what I’m saying is that when that happens, and as someone who has sat in so many courtrooms, to me, all of that is tragic. The fact that the murder happened is tragic. The fact that there was a circumstance in which that could even come to pass is tragic, and all of that is a reflection of systems that allowed that circumstance to be possible. And so, you know, I have always focused my attention on how do we create systems where that’s not even the possibility.

[Bristlecone]

32. She avoided the question at each turn.

Not a great interview on her part imo. Maybe trying to be thoughtful, but I’d guess she knows that she may have stepped into a hole on the subject.

[Cirsium]

33. She avoided the "gotchas"

As Wiz Imp said, the calling for abolishing prisons is a much more complex issue than the people who latch on to it as a soundbite to condemn all Democrats make it out to be.

[Bristlecone]

35. Yes, perhaps she means the prison complex/Private Prisons

Which I cannot disagree with tbh.

Regardless of position, one should be prepared for the obvious question: what about murder?

Not every crime is a result of a cyclical societal root cause. Some yes, but this comes across as if the real victim is the murderer/criminal. At least a bit like that IMO

[Cirsium]

38. That's a "gotcha"

Last edited Sat Jun 27, 2026, 07:27 PM - Edit history (1)

Obviously. "Yeah, but what about...?"

What does "not every crime is a result of a cyclical societal root cause" mean? Of course everything that happens in a social context is part of the social context. She said "we have to think not only about interrupting that cycle of harm but also preventing it from the onset." She then asks "what are the systems that actually reduce that harm from happening in the first place?" The systems we currently use to supposedly "reduce that harm from happening" - aggressive policing of minority communities and bodies, gated communities for the wealthy, fear-mongering by the media and by politicians, cruel and unusual punishment, protecting property over people - are failing to reduce harm, and that is harm to all of us.

Reducing that important discussion to "yeah but what about a murderer" is disingenuous at best.

The interviewer asked "do you not incarcerate the murderer?" She answered "I don’t think anyone in society questions that that’s what’s going to happen." In other words, it is a bogus question.

She also said she is talking about "the distance between the world we want to see and the world that we’re at." Can we not do that?

[Bristlecone]

44. "not every crime is a result of a cyclical societal root cause"

Social and societal are related, but are not the same thing. They both relate to society, but social is interpersonal, while societal is broader, institutional, cultural based structures.

In other words, not every crime is committed because of your upbringing or environment. People do commit crimes for other reasons: impulse, accidents, etc.

And you may not agree with me here, but her answers were not great in my opinion. The question about murder was perhaps designed to throw her off guard, aka a gotcha, but if you take this position, which many clearly will find as out of the norm, you best be prepared for a question or two about it. And capital offenses are #1.

What she could have said is “I don’t think anyone in society questions that’s what SHOULD happen”

That makes the original question bogus.

Instead her statement is passive, noncommittal and more about societal norms than HER belief on the matter. She dodged it.

[Cirsium]

57. strawman

No one is disputing that "not every crime is committed because of your upbringing or environment."

"You best be prepared for a question or two about it." I think she is very well prepared and did a great job fielding that question. She was much more considerate than I would have been. Apparently, you see that as a weakness.

"Instead her statement is passive, noncommittal and more about societal norms than HER belief on the matter."

Her "belief" on what "matter?" She is not "non-committal," she is talking about something different than "what should we do with murders?" Ironically, bringing up that issue is a passive and noncommittal way to ignore what she is saying, and a dishonest way to avoid openly defending the existing system, which asking that question certainly does.

Darializa Avila Chevalier: "We need to overhaul the entire system."

Josh Greenman: "What about murderers?"

You can't see the problem with that? It is pretty obvious.

[Wiz Imp]

50. I think she succesfully made it clear that the whole idea of prison abolition

does not mean "she wants to release all the criminals onto the streets" like assholes like Maher paint it.

[Bristlecone]

52. I can see that.

And he is a giant asshole.

[niyad]

54. It sounded very much like some of the restorative justice programs

that I know.

[fujiyamasan]

21. Yet somehow he's entitled to a weekly thread advertising his show

Not sure why it stays up. Free advertising. Basically spam.

[MineralMan]

22. He sounds like Fetterman.

[mr715]

23. Fetterman doesn't have the sneering arrogance.

[Wiz Imp]

29. He's far worse than Fetterman

[Blue Owl]

26. His vote is in play?

Hey I think I see it over there on the middle of the freeway, Bill… go on and get it!

[ITAL]

31. I swear I remember way back in '96

He said he voted for Dole on his old Politically Incorrect show. If I recall he said that he liked Clinton, but he felt Dole deserved a better fate than to get annihilated so he was doing his part to make it more respectable...or something to that effect.

[delisen]

34. I do not see any difference between Mahar and Trump

Mahar is engaging in manipulative political theater for his own enrichment at a time when individuals are actually being arrested and killed by Trump. here, in the Middle East, and around the world.

There is no comparison between any branch of the Republican Party and any branch of the Democratic Party.

Mahar is a propagandist for a crime family that has taken over our country.

Sen. Chris MURPHY just addressed a n incredible list of Trump crimes in a senate speech. He and his staff have done the hard investigating. Many other democrats, like Sheldon Whitehouse have been doin the same.

They will not get much press but the facts they are putting together will be the foundation of doing away with Trump and MAGA.

Mahar,s framing is just a cover for the destruction of our country.

[Oneironaut]

36. "The left left me!" Grift incoming.

It’s been in play for a while. We’re all waiting for the other shoe to drop. Bill Maher really REALLY wants to become Joe Rogan.

[milestogo]

37. Maher is full of shit and always has been.💩💩💩💩💩💩

[dem4decades]

39. Was he full of shit when he was a C level actor.

I've seen him turn up on a few old shows, I can see why he left acting, or maybe he was left behind because he sucked.

[themaguffin]

40. Fetterman like

[Intractable]

46. Let me add "likes Fetterman."

[themaguffin]

48. yeah true, he does like Fetterman

[Iggo]

41. Fuck Bill Maher. (n/t)

[Sneederbunk]

42. Some DUers have a need to

repeat what Maher said the Friday night before.

[Johonny]

43. Does Bill think the very fine people love Jews

I think we know the answer to that.

Trump hates capitalism, voting, the Jews, but he does love prison (for his enemies, but not his criminal friends). Only shit hole people would vote for Trump, so it makes sense his vote is in play. I mean. Bill basically signaling his love of fascism for a while now.

[Iggo]

49. He's an atheist, a jew, and a catholic.

I think that’s three of the top five on the Klan’s kill list.

They’re not his friends, and they’ll get around to him soon enough.

[Polybius]

56. The Klan dropped their anti-Catholic rhetoric and let them become members way back in the late 70s

Probably to increase membership. Strongly enough, that's when David Duke was their leader.

[senseandsensibility]

45. So Maher trashed the Dems to Vance?

Color me not surprised. Did he by any chance have any criticism of Vance or trump during the interview or was it all anti Dem? Haven't heard of one critical question he asked Vance, but since I won't watch it I am dependent on what others report.

[AZProgressive]

47. He lives in California so I don't think his vote will swing things

I'm sure capitalism has worked out great for Maher but for the average person it doesn't work that well. In any case I favor a mixed economy.

The reason why there is a focus on Israel compared to the past is for at-least 1 year following October 2023 Netanyahu was a great candidate for human rights violator of the year. I know there was an organization that labeled Assad human rights violator of the year during the Syria civil war. I have mostly avoided commentating on Israel, in the past I often criticized Assad, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Modi's government in India, etc. It wasn't until Netanyahu was committing war crimes on a massive scale that I felt the need to call out Israel.

I don't know of a specific platform of "no prisons" but the US has the highest incarceration rates, the US locks up more people than China even though they have more people and it has gotten worse with immigrants being incarcerated often for indefinite periods of time.

[dave99]

55. Maher is RICH so why should he care about anyone else ?

ever since he got his first million he's been shit

[dem4decades]

58. I don't care what he does, as long as it's not here.

Why he's allowed on DU spouting anti Democratic garbage is beyond me.