Comedian Bill Maher clashed with actor Patton Oswalt on “Club Random” Monday over whether Democrats have sprinted too far left. Maher said even Democrats know it. Gallup found 45% want the party to move back to the middle.
Oswalt praised Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but Maher pushed back. He said she’d need “some deprogramming” before she could ever become “a fantastic candidate.” That stunned Oswalt, who demanded, “What do you mean deprogramming?”
Maher didn’t back off. He said, “She’s never going to resonate with people outside of the bubble that she lives in, in the very, very far left.” He pointed to a recent New York Times editorial that agreed Democrats have gone too extreme.
Oswalt pressed Maher on whether the piece was calling AOC “too far left.” Maher said yes — and that Democrats can’t win nationally unless they moderate. “But we don’t have to argue about her,” he said.
Oswalt claimed that if people think AOC is too far left, it proved America is “broken.” He blamed the country’s “freakout” after Barack Obama’s election. “We are not as progressed and evolved and intelligent as we think we are,” he insisted.
Maher fired back, pointing out that the left melts down too. “The left freaked out about a lot of bullshit too.” Oswalt challenged him, and Maher rattled off a list: “Gender, race, parenthood, schools, homelessness, crime, the border, education.”
Oswalt tried to argue the left “stayed scientific.” Maher wasn’t having it. “No, they didn’t! … they think gender bullshit that they went way too far with. That’s not scientific.”
The exchange hit a nerve because Democrats’ extremism on trans issues was a massive gift to Republicans in 2024. Ads highlighting Kamala Harris and the party’s position helped fuel Trump’s rise. It kept GOP candidates competitive even in tough races.
Only two House Democrats voted for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which simply says biological males can’t compete in female sports. The bill passed the House 218–206 but Senate Democrats killed it in March. They voted 45 strong to block it.
And the public isn’t buying the far-left spin either. Roughly 80% of Americans say biological males don’t belong in women’s sports, according to a New York Times/Ipsos poll. That gap between Democratic leaders and voters keeps growing.