“Real Time” host Bill Maher is not rallying behind Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as the Democratic nominee in 2028.
Maher began the panel discussion Friday by pointing to how the prominent “Squad” member and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have been getting large crowds at their “Fight Oligarchy” rallies across the country, prompting one audience member to loudly clap.
“Thank you,” Maher reacted to the audience member. “There’s that same guy, I call him the ‘always wrong’ guy – I’m kidding.”
“But I feel like big crowds, again, these shiny objects that the Democrats chase. It’s not about the big crowds when you’re talking at a festival or wherever they are, because I think that Bernie showed up at Coachella. That must’ve been fun for the fans,” Maher continued. “It’s who shows up on Election Day. And I just don’t see that’s the ticket.”
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He took a knock towards the 25-hour marathon speech given by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., as Democrats “whacking each other off.”
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., defended Booker’s record floor speech as something that energized their party but conceded Democrats have to do a lot more to win back voters.
“And you don’t really think AOC should be the candidate, do you?” Maher asked.
“It’s not my job to pick who the candidate is going to be,” Smith responded.
“Oh, it’s mine,” Maher quipped. “And it’s not – it shouldn’t be her. It shouldn’t be her.”
Ocasio-Cortez has seen a surge in recent Democratic primary polls, placing second to former Vice President Kamala Harris in one. Prominent pollster Nate Silver said this week that she’s currently the most likely candidate to win the Democratic nomination in 2028, although Ocasio-Cortez has not indicated she’s running for president.
Earlier in the show, Maher pointed to the viral moment from an AOC-Sanders rally where anti-Israel protesters dropped a “Free Palestine” banner over the American flag and were ejected by police, prompting rallygoers to chant “Free Palestine” and halt Sanders’ speech.
“I kind of worry that that’s where the Democratic Party is, that this is their next stupid hill to die on,” Maher said. “So the chant of ‘Free Palestine,’ free from whom I would like to ask. Do they realize who is really the people who are enslaving the people of Palestine?”
“If those moronic people had any knowledge, they would say ‘Free Palestine from Hamas,’” author Douglas Murray responded to an agreeing Maher. “At the very least, they would do that.”
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At another point in the show, Maher mocked Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her awkward moment last week where she tried to hide her face behind a folder while in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump. The two-term governor of a swing state, Whitmer is widely seen as a possible 2028 candidate.
“We need a better Democrat than that,” Maher said.
