Bill Maher getting cozy with the GOP shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has paid attention to the comedian’s cranky, conservative slide over the last several years. Still, it was a shock on Friday when Maher told Vice President JD Vance directly that he was weighing voting red.
Vance stopped by “Real Time” to promote his new book “Communion” and was roundly mocked by Maher for the administration’s handling of the war in Iran and ICE deportations. Still, that wasn’t enough to keep Maher from considering a vote for Vance.
Maher said that progressive Democrats stance on Israel and crime had pushed him toward their opposing party.
“If this is where the Democratic Party is going… this obsession with Israel, with 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.
The host added that he has never voted along party lines and that his vote is always candidate-specific. Until recently, Maher said his calculus pushed him toward Democrats.
“I don’t make my decision by who has an R or a D,” he said. “I actually always came to the conclusion that the Democrat was probably better, and voted for them.”
Maher said he would gladly vote for Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio, provided that Republicans lay off crying foul every time they lose an election.
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“Here’s my dealbreaker for your side: Under Trump, you guys have two outcomes that an election can be, either we win or they cheated. That shit has to stop,” he said. “And that means the person who has to stop it will be you, or Marco. Can you tell me you will do that?”
Vance refused to give a straight answer, saying that the true problem with the 2020 presidential election was the supposed bias of social media platforms. Maher said that answer would get Vance an attaboy when he returned to DC, even if it didn’t go over on the talk show set.
Watch Maher’s interview with Vance below via YouTube:
