On Friday’s episode of HBO’s Real Time, host Bill Maher delivered a blunt critique of the Democratic Party’s far-left shift, warning that figures like New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani are pushing socialism too far from the American mainstream. In a conversation with Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Maher questioned whether this is truly the direction Democrats want to take their party.
“They call themselves democratic socialists,” Maher said. “I think they should drop the ‘democratic’ part, because that means that you have to answer for everything the socialists do.” Maher speculated that Mamdani, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, might even align with communism, noting, “Whatever it is, it’s very far left.”
Rep. Moskowitz responded by distancing himself from Mamdani’s ideology but admitted that Republicans are using far-left voices to define the Democratic Party. “They’re trying to make me and others answer for everything he does,” Moskowitz said. “I don’t remember Eric Adams being the head of the Democratic Party, or Michael Bloomberg being the head of the Republican Party, but Republicans are trying to make him now the head of [the] party.”
Maher pushed back, arguing that Mamdani’s extreme views are not just fringe but now threaten to become the new face of the party. “Those guys weren’t as out of the mainstream… but they’re trying to make that the mainstream,” Maher warned.
Maher said Democrats should be asked directly: “Should this be the direction the party is going?” He emphasized that Mamdani is far from alone. “There are about 100 [democratic socialists] in different offices in places where they’ve won in this country,” Maher added.
The segment highlights growing concern—even among liberals—that the Democratic Party is veering too far left, and that voters deserve clear answers on where the party truly stands.
