Bill Maher isn’t celebrating the Democrat Party’s sweeping midterm victories without reservations. The liberal HBO host is warning that the party’s growing socialist wing could take Democrats in a dangerous direction, and he believes America’s schools deserve some of the blame.
During Friday’s “Overtime” segment of “Real Time,” Maher argued that young Americans are embracing socialism without understanding its historical failures.
“The reason why they don’t know that socialism didn’t work in the past, to this degree, or Communism, is because nobody taught them in school,” Maher said.
He called that failure “an indictment of our educational system,” suggesting younger generations have been left without the historical perspective necessary to evaluate the economic systems they increasingly support.
Maher’s remarks come as socialist Democrats gain influence within the Democratic Party, including through several notable victories in Tuesday’s elections.
In Los Angeles, democratic socialist Nithya Raman defeated incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. Washington, D.C., elected Democratic Socialist Janeese Lewis George, while New York City is already led by Zohran Mamdani, who won the mayoral election in 2025.
Critics argue that socialists have increasingly reshaped the party through primary contests and local elections, often campaigning on seemingly relatable issues such as housing affordability. They compare this strategy to the Bolsheviks’ 1917 slogan of “Bread, Land and Peace,” which preceded their takeover of Russia and the liquidation of millions of political enemies.
Maher, however, appears willing to seek common ground with the radical left, as though meaningful negotiations were possible with communists.
“We already have a lot of socialism, and a lot of it is appropriate,” Maher said, pointing to Social Security and Medicare as government programs he supports.
He distinguished those programs from what he described as the far left’s push for a far broader expansion of government control.
“These people want communism,” he warned.
Where has Maher been? I have been making that argument for 20 years. Still, it is notable to hear someone finally use the “c-word” on the cable talk-show circuit.
Political commentator Coleman Hughes also challenged socialist economic policies, highlighting rent control measures that can discourage new construction and deepen housing shortages.
Americans do not have to look only to the Soviet Union for examples of the risks Maher is describing.
Venezuela’s economic collapse unfolded under socialist governments that expanded nationalization, price controls and state intervention. Alongside corruption, dependence on oil revenues and other pressures, those policies helped produce a catastrophe that drove millions of people out of the country.
Cuba, meanwhile, continues to face severe shortages and failing infrastructure under its centrally planned economic system. A nationwide power outage in March 2026 underscored the country’s continuing crisis.
Maher believes moderate Democrats should acknowledge those risks instead of allowing the party’s direction to be dictated by its ideological left.
“Who has the guts to say this is the Democratic Party? You are doing a whole different thing,” he asked.
Very few. And if the new leadership of the Socialist Democrat Party is any indication, those dissenting voices could face censorship or cancellation.
Editor’s Note: Socialism has taken hold within the Democrat Party, and its influence is spreading rapidly. Democrats insist there is nothing to worry about, but the warning signs are clear.
