Has Bill Maher finally lost his left-leaning viewers?

[Sibelius Fan]

I’m thinking yes.

Granted, I haven’t watched him in at least the last 5-7 years, but even my wife (who continued to watch) has finally given up on him after his dinner with the rapist.

Your thoughts?

[BlueTsunami2018]

1. I haven't watched this season at all.

And I was a never miss watcher forever.

I just don’t feel like it anymore.

[Efilroft Sul]

21. Same here, except Maher's anti-woke crusade sealed the deal before his dinner with Mayor McCheese's #1 fan.

[ILikePie92]

76. Preach on

My thoughts exactly.

[MontanaMama]

2. Bill Maher is a hack.

Sorry not sorry. Even when I sometimes agreed with him, he was unwatchable in my opinion.

[lapfog_1]

3. I've been running cold and colder on his "comedy"

I would watch his new rules... but they are less funny now than in years past

[Aviation Pro]

5. They are less funny

Because they aren't funny.

[Sky Jewels]

4. He's the James Woods of "comedy" now.

Smug, arrogant, condescending, sexist, unlikable, etc. etc. My name for him now is "Nazi Fluffer." It would be a real shame if that caught on...

[TheBlackAdder]

36. Not that bad. More like Dennis Miller. 🤣

[ILikePie92]

77. Oh gawd

Dennis Miller was never funny. Just freaky.

[Oopsie Daisy]

6. Similar situation here, except reversed. My husband continued to watch and *

* I was the one who gave up on him long ago. I couldn't stand his guests. I could not stand his arrogance. I could not stand his know-it-all piety. Still my husband would continue to tune in for the monologue and New Rules segments (just the jokes in the New Rules... not the lecture at the end.)

Now we're both Maher-Free! And, as it turns out... since he was the last vestige of anything we enjoyed about HBO, now "Max", we cancelled our streaming subscription to that as well!!

No more Maher and a little extra $$$ in our account. Win-win!!

[Prairie_Seagull]

66. Hell, now you can afford (price gouged) eggs.

Well some anyway.

10 bucks for an 18 pack for Eostre.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%92ostre

Wife and I gave up on Bill Maher couple years ago. Comes across as an arrogant ass wipe, to me.
Two of us in the same room at the same time. My poor wife.

[MadameButterfly]

7. Anything new in particular bringing this on?

In the past I found him alternately funny and abrasive. But never right leaning. So why in particular would he have lost left-leaning audience?

[localroger]

15. Maher is what he is, and hasn't changed

He himself predicted all this. He's been a libertarian since Politically Incorrect, and sometimes not in a good way but always pretty consistent. For most people whether he's funny just depends on whose ox is getting gored. I don't find it funny when he is punching down to the left, but some of his criticisms are more valid than we'd like to admit, and I think his dinner with the national fuckstick was naive and ill-advised, but again that's who he has always been. One thing I can say with some admiration is that the man is not a weathervane. He is certainly wrong about some things, including some very important things, but he's not wrong be cause he hasn't thought about what he believes or because he picked his positions based on who he could fluff or who might get pissed off. And I can think of a few times when he has flat out publicly admitted that he was wrong because a guest or an unforeseen news item caused him to reconsider his position. Very few people with his public exposure are willing to do that, ever.

[MadameButterfly]

19. who is the national fuckstick?

[maxsolomon]

23. that would be President Toxic Narcissist

the Worst Person in America.

[MadameButterfly]

25. I got that with the next post

but there are enough crazies right now that it's not obvious unless you know the story already

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

29. Yes, Maher is what he is... an asshole.

[localroger]

44. Well there are a lot of people who would say, and I wouldn't entirely disagree...

...that being an asshole is kind of built into the whole libertarian thing. It reeks of "me got mine" and is one of his unfortunate points of commonality with his more toxic right-wing guests. But again, that's always been a big part of what he is, not just a schtick but his real core beliefs. It does make him a sharp critic of our enemies when they are stepping on his gown, but you have to remember sometimes he'll turn around and be like WTF on us too.

[3catwoman3]

52. Libertarian, IMO, is a chronological adult who never got past toddlerhood.

They want what they want when they want it, and they don't like anyone telling them "No."

[unblock]

17. He recently visited Donnie and praised his "private" persona

https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5246225-bill-maher-donald-trump-white-house-visit/

Larry David then spoofed it as "my dinner with Adolf"

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/apr/22/larry-david-spoofs-bill-maher-white-house-visit-trump

[MadameButterfly]

20. OK, that could do it

Why the hell would he do that????
Haven't read the Larry David article but didn't know it referred to Billl Mahr. Will check it out

[maxsolomon]

27. Kid Rock asked him/dared him to.

On the show.

[MadameButterfly]

50. Man, he fell for that?

It's like falling for a teenage prank

[maxsolomon]

68. You'd have to watch that segment to understand.

The Kid Rock interview and Maher's "Book Report" segment are easily searchable. But then you'd be a horrible person for watching.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

30. Larry nailed the Nazi-in-Chief perfectly!!

[wiggs]

8. There are many who continue to try to be the contrarian, the 'moderate', the objective observer who

are super frustrating because their efforts at 'new takes' merely normalize an unprecedented, outrageous, dangerous trends and group of people in power. Maher is joined by Smerconish and Dan Abrams in my book. Haven't watched Maher in a long while.

[struggle4progress]

9. I enjoyed him about 30 years ago but stopped watching about 25 years back

[Paladin]

10. I gave up on Maher, years ago.

Wish I could repeat the process of walking away from him, ever since he showed up at trump's White House for dinner, knee-pads in hand.

Additional blessings upon Larry David for ripping Maher a new asshole for the trump dinner, with that satirical piece in the NY Times a couple of days ago. Those of you who still have the stomach to watch Maher's drivel, let us know if he has any response to David's article on his upcoming show. (David's "My Dinner With Adolf" piece was posted here at DU, in the General Discussion forum.)

[YodaMom2]

11. We used to be regular viewers.

But his crusade against "woke" liberals got so incredibly tiresome. And from the start it was clear that it was entirely personal and self-serving. He objected to people who were objecting to HIM: His misogyny, his Islamophobia, his barely concealed homophobia and racism.

[Johnny2X2X]

12. He lost me a while back

He's out of touch, has no clue what is really going on with normal non rich people, but he was still funny at times. Where he lost me was his bigoted takes on trans folk wich got really really bad during the presidenital campaign. He was basically saying that woke is indoctrinating children and convincing them to get sex change surgeries. He's a fucking bigoted POS.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. Probably trying to avoid the whole Mika and Joe thing.

Bending the knee so he doesn't become a target to a petty old tyrant who just happens to have the nuclear codes.

[NCDem47]

14. He was sooooo whiny through Covid and lockdowns

I stopped then and haven’t watched since.

[kysrsoze]

16. John Oliver is WAY funnier/smarter and available on the same streaming service.

I gave up on Maher’s holier than thou attitude a year or so ago.

John Oliver’s show is outstanding, policy focused and avoids the kind of sanctimonious self-fellating that Maher engages in every week.

I do find it odd that people always want to talk about Maher here, but Oliver is rarely mentioned.

[MayReasonRule]

18. My Thoughts... Bill Maher Is A Duplicitous Fascist Turd...

I'm with Mickey... Fuck Bill Maher!

[Emile]

22. I can't stand his centrist bs.

[maxsolomon]

24. I watch occasionally. I won't change that.

If I'm interested in one of the guests, I'll tune in. I'm not above rolling my eyes at Progressive Pieties.

I didn't watch the Kid Rock episode that spawned this.

[SocialDemocrat61]

39. Progressive Pieties???

What do you consider Progressive Pieties?

[maxsolomon]

40. I'm not the 1st to use that phrase.

Maybe I should have said Progressive Orthodoxy.

[SocialDemocrat61]

41. What do you consider

Progressive Orthodoxy?

[maxsolomon]

42. Don't really feel like citing examples for you to critique.

Let's just say that in my 24 years on DU, I've become more of a Centrist. I don't hate everything Maher says.

[SocialDemocrat61]

43. What does Maher say

that you don’t hate?

[maxsolomon]

47. LOL, keep trying. I know better.

I simply said I'll continue to watch his show.

I'll keep watching it - occasionally - and occasionally agreeing with some illiberal opinion of his, but I also enjoy it when he takes his act too far and the panel pushes back. That happens fairly frequently.

[SocialDemocrat61]

49. What illiberal opinions of his

do you occasionally agree with?

[Abolishinist]

61. Forget it Jake, it's DUtown.

[SocialDemocrat61]

65. Wrong movie

[Abolishinist]

73. I think I'll pass.

We have belonged to our local Cinema Society for decades, on average 20 films each season, and attend the Palm Springs Film Festival each year, another 15 or so. Many of these are foreign films and, unfortunately, never make it to the U.S. Add another 5+ for our local International Jewish Film Festival and we’re up to over 40 annually. Not to mention those we watch on streaming services or attend outside of the festivals.

We also attended the BFI London Film Festival once but decided hey, we’re in London! One can usually find a movie online, so we headed to the West End and saw some incredible plays instead, including War Horse, one of my all-time faves, off the charts.
Also, we have season tickets to three theatre groups and attend a few concerts from time-to-time.

All to say, thanks for the recommendation, but this genre of movie has never been high on my list. Although, Adrienne Barbeau... hmmm.

[SocialDemocrat61]

74. Too bad

[berksdem]

26. Bill, IMO, has always

been a misogynous prick. I have no clue why liberals watch him. He is a fool.

[pnwest]

28. He lost me right after he returned to

the studio after Covid. I remember watching a few episodes after that. Sometime around then his “funny” turned to snark, plus having shitstain a like Kid Rock and Ann Ghoulter on the show - I just lost interest.

[misanthrope]

34. His general science knowledge has always had weak spots

which doesn't make him uncommon. However, his willingness to embrace woo about vaccines began to surface in other ways. He has been a good example of accepting scientific facts as canon without bothering to practice the thought processes that go along with scientific discovery and method. Rational skepticism must be tended to like a skill as it is often in opposition to our intuitive thinking.

Maher's contrarian reflexes did him no service during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Rather than take aim at the politicization of one of the biggest science stories of his lifetime, he was willing to entertain paranoid postulations that were easily disproven. Combined with whatever regulatory hassles he went through around the installation of solar panels at his estate, it really kicked his irascibility to another level.

[pnwest]

60. You know what? That's exactly right!

That is precisely when I soured on him. I remember him talking about that. How astute of you!

[HAB911]

31. Lost me about a year ago

no more for me

[Celerity]

32. His ratings:

[maxsolomon]

69. Stop injecting facts into a Bill Maher OP

You know better!

[LilyBelle]

33. Stopped watching about a year ago

I feel like he changed or something changed him.

[Aristus]

35. He lost me a long time ago.

n/t

[KarenS]

38. Me, too.

5 or 6 years ago when I realized how misogynistic he was.

[Wounded Bear]

37. He was always more libertarian than liberal...

Has just become more obvious over the years.

[thebigidea]

45. Penn Jillette who used to be super-libertarian disagrees.

I think Maher was more of a contrarian know-it-all asshole than anything else. He's never pushed libertarian economic policies. He's never been for taking away Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. He just likes smoking weed and wants to make sure every single person hears about it every single time they see him.

He's doubled down on so many of his bad takes and Covid-era stupidity that he's painted himself into a corner. I wouldn't be surprised if HBO fails to renew his contract next time around and he switches to full time bitching on his loathsome podcast. Good lord is he terrible at interviewing people! I'm morbidly fascinated by Club Random... he's such a disgusting creep, his leching after women and total disinterest in what anyone has to say comes off like a parody of an interview.

Which of course, lends itself to parody. Tim Heidecker is brilliant at dismantling every single element of the current Maher to hilarious effect:

[RandiFan1290]

62. Thank you for the video

Tim's parody of Rogan was just as good

[Maru Kitteh]

46. I was never a regular viewer but would watch sometimes if it was there.

Now I won’t. I’d rather scoop out the cat box and then maybe give it a good wash and wax. Brush the cats teeth. Go find a plumber with toenail fungus to treat. Go back to work - yeah, lots of things I’d rather do than watch Bill Mahar now.

[AZProgressive]

48. I stopped watching under the Obama administration

He was spending nearly every episode bashing Muslims and when someone hates one group they tend to hate others like with Gen Z recently when it comes to Bill Maher.

If it wasn't for that I probably would have stopped watching when he had RFK Jr on his bad podcast to blame SSRIs for mass shootings. I take Zoloft myself and it has been like a miracle drug as far as treating different symptoms.

If it wasn't that it probably would have been when he platformed Elon Musk to talk about the "woke mind virus" which is a dog whistle that Maher often himself uses.

I consider him as like the Jimmy Dore for Centrists meaning he sheepdogs viewers to the right or toward Trump.

[question everything]

53. He donated $1 million to the Obama campaign and, yes, visited his White House

[SocialDemocrat61]

63. Trump donated to democrats for decades

He even donated to Clinton and Harris campaigns. That doesn’t give him absolution either.

[msfiddlestix]

51. I never understood the appeal, not even during the Bush years, but when Obama was in office I flushed him

down the toilet along with other wanna be clown acts.

[question everything]

54. All these threads just help him. He, like all entertainers and public figures have to stay in the public eye

I am grateful to Rhiannon12866 for posting his programs. I don’t like all of them; I stopped watching when Bannon was oh so sure that they can elect him for a third term. But some guests are interesting and his new rules are often on the mark.

One cannot expect to agree with every appearance.

[Sibelius Fan]

70. Just how much "help" does Maher enjoy from an anti-Maher thread started by an anonymous poster

(me) on a D board with a very limited membership?

Your admonition to just shut up is noted and rejected.

[question everything]

71. I did not tell anyone to "just shut up." Just an observation with a smile

[kimbutgar]

55. I haven't watched in so many years I forgot the last time I watched!

When I see him I want to 🤮!

[dem4decades]

56. Years ago a friend of mine would mention Maher, I recorded his show and gave him a try.

After a few minutes I didn't understand the appeal he had to Democrats, found him to be an insufferable know it all, shut the show off and never watched again.

Having seen clips of him since, I'm very happy with my initial opinion of the twit and glad i never wasted any more time watching him.

[samplegirl]

57. He can just go

kiss trumps ass! Never was a big fan of him!

[tavernier]

58. It's like watching an old boyfriend

who you dumped years ago because of a growing ick factor, and now realizing how smart you were to follow that intuition.

[surfered]

59. Yup. We're done, because we're woke and Bill Maher thinks that's a bad thing.

[Martin Eden]

64. My wife finally gave up on him after his dinner with Hair Twitler

I grew to loathe the smug prick who's not nearly as smart as he thinks he is. Being a useful idiot for Donald Trump was the last straw.

[Blue Owl]

67. He's so last-century

[Sibelius Fan]

75. Maher stopped being a leftist when times changed and he could no longer call people "a bitch"

or “a pussy.”

[Torchlight]

72. One perk of dodging the cable TV vortex for years

I don’t have even a shred of emotional investment in any of the Celebrity or Talking Head Name Tags (Olbermann aside). So when the tabloid cavalry comes ready to defend a sacred cow from the faintest whiff of backyard BBQ smoke, I just sit back and enjoy the show with popcorn and zero Fs to give.

(which is probably just as unhealthy as watching cable, but less commercial air-time)

[the_liberal_grandpa]

78. I stopped watching too because he

was constantly whining about how hard it was to get a solar panel approved at his home.

I thought it was total bullshit and made up. He just kept harping on how hard it was to live in California.

As a Californian who would not live anywhere else, I would gladly hold the door for him if he wanted to leave.

[SocialDemocrat61]

79. I remember when that happened

A friend in LA told me he didn’t have any of the same problems. He used an experienced, licensed contractor and got done in a few months. He assumed that Maher probably tried to save money and didn’t use an experienced contractor so they ran into problems.