Bill Maher Tells Charlie Kirk What’s Really Destroying His Own Party
Two political opposites, united in one BRUTAL exposé of the modern left. Then Maher dropped a line no loyal Democrat would dare say out loud.
On the latest episode of Club Random, Bill Maher sat down with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk for what many expected to be a clash of political opposites.
But what unfolded was something far more surprising: a candid, wide-ranging conversation that revealed just how much common ground these two actually share—especially when it comes to calling out the modern left.
It kicked off with a sharp joke from Kirk, who warned Maher that the “purple-hair jihadis” would be coming for him next.
“They want to kill me just as bad. Oh, they really do!” Maher responded. He explained, “They hate their own apostates more. I’m supposed to get on the short bus to crazy town with them—and I won’t.”
From there, Maher began to draw a clear line between classic liberal values and what he called the “woke” ideology taking over the Democratic Party.
“I am one of them! They’re not one of me,” he said. “Liberal and woke are two completely different things—woke is very often the opposite.”
Maher explained, “Liberalism is, let’s live in a colorblind society. That’s the goal. Woke’s goal is, ‘We see race everywhere.’ Liberal is, ‘There’s a two-state solution.’ Woke is ‘river to the sea.’”
Then came a line that cut to the core of his frustration: “You got off the F-train, you fell asleep, and you got off at 20 stops too far. Don’t blame me for that.”
The conversation pivoted to an issue even some liberals are struggling to defend: women’s sports. Kirk praised Maher for speaking out.
“You deserve credit for being a liberal that acknowledges male-female distinctions,” he said.
“Oh, of course! Of all the low-lying fruit the Democrats just hand the Republicans to win elections, that’s the one,” Maher responded.
Kirk grinned and asked, “Are they really gonna let us win every national election on this no-men-in-women’s-sports thing?”
Maher answered bluntly: “It’s so ridiculous.”
He cited the stat that 890 trophies had already gone to biological males competing in women’s events—and even pointed out that California’s own Gavin Newsom had backed away from the debate.
“You lost Gavin Newsom on this,” he said. “Take that as a hint.”
Then came the part no one saw coming. Maher opened up about a recent dinner he had with President Trump—and pushed back on the idea that engaging with him was somehow off-limits.
“I voted for Obama, I voted for Clinton,” Maher said. “But the idea that I could talk to them as freely as I felt this conversation was going, is emblematic to me of why the Democrats lose the elections. Because they just don’t feel that this is like a real person.”
He got even more honest: “And I know it’s so weird to say that about Donald Trump, who I’ve said a jillion times is, you know, a whiny little b*tch, I could go through my greatest hits of insults. But this was about getting past that and maybe seeing that if we met in person, we don’t hate each other as much. And we don’t!”
“I’m sorry, I’m not going to pretend that’s a bad thing,” Maher added.
That’s when Kirk delivered a line that stopped the conversation cold.
“You had more moral courage than pastors I know who went along with the woke crazy train,” he said. “You deserve credit for that—because it came at a high cost.”
Maher nodded in agreement. For a moment, the two ideological opposites sounded completely in sync. Maher didn’t sugarcoat his assessment of what’s dragging his party down.
“Until we get rid of that sh*t, they’re never going to win another election,” he said.
Kirk replied, “They’re not going to take political advice from me.”
Maher responded, “No, but they might from me. Not the 10%—but that’s 10%. They’re very loud, but that’s it.”
Then came a quote that’s never felt more relevant: “As FDR once said, ‘I welcome their hatred.’”
Two men with very different worldviews just exposed what many Americans already sense: the far left isn’t leading the Democrats forward. It’s dragging them down. And unless the party finds the courage to cut that anchor loose, it’s going to sink with it.
Watch the full conversation below:
If you haven’t subscribed to this Substack yet, take a moment to read what some of the most powerful voices in the medical freedom/truth movement have to say:
“The Vigilant Fox has been putting in a lot of work to create a news platform that shares the stories we want to hear about and brings attention to the most important things to know about. If you want a daily newsfeed in alignment with our ...”
– A Midwestern Doctor, The Forgotten Side of Medicine
“The Vigilant Fox absolutely is on top of things. We must support our fighters, and the Fox is fighting with truth.”
– Tom Renz, Tom Renz’s Newsletter
“Excellent capture of key video presentations on evolving pandemic science.”
– Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH, FOCAL POINTS (Courageous Discourse)
There was a recent post on another substack about the limits of liberalism that i found very thoughtful. That there are two extremes of political thought--and here it's important to note the difference between thought and action. On one end there is self-responsibility without compassion, a form of Ayn Rand-ian selfishness. On the other end is compassion without practical limits, what we used to call knee-jerk liberalism, which is about requiring that people give without observing healthy, practical boundaries.
I was a progressive for decades until I realized that the modern left was built on giving of oneself with half baked impractical rules, a form of idealism that doesn't play out well in the real world.
I think this conversation identifies that problem well with the example of men claiming to identify as women inviting themselves into women's sports. This is based upon the unspoken ideal that men and women should be equal in all things, without the reality check that there actually are real world differences. Equal rights, check. Equal opportunities, check. Equal access, or forced access regardless of merit = a recipe for cultural dissipation.
I think that example of the differences in male and female biology is solid common ground for seeing how the far left dems no longer have their feet planted on the ground. Another reality check: besides being woke, by which I mean qualified by spouting politically correct ideology, how do these people actually treat other human beings in everyday life? Do they treat everyone with respect and consideration, or are they creating a new form of inequality that allows men to take away rights that women fought for over a couple of centuries. What freedoms are being left broken, lying on the ground as a result of this new woke ideology? This is where I start to suspect creeping communism...
When I was young I aligned pretty well with the democrats… say like 40 years ago. These days I don’t even know what to label that group as. How far away from logic can a group go!?!? I find it so ironic that so many liberals have no idea that the KKK was founded by the democrats to scare people into voting democrat. They must have really rewritten the history books fully since I went to school.