Bill Maher elicits gasps during monologue about rising communism in Democratic Party

HBO host Bill Maher elicited gasps from his audience during his Friday monologue in which he warned against the rise of overt communism among younger democratic socialists who have infiltrated the Democratic Party.

"Donald Trump has told one trillion lies, but when he says the Democratic Socialists of America are actually communist, that's not one of them. And it's not hard to prove it, just by quoting the DSA and their candidates. It gives me no pleasure to have to do this," Maher said during a segment in last week's episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher."

Maher went on to cite the DSA platform's language on work — "You work as much as you are able and no more than needed" — as nearly identical to Karl Marx's "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." He also highlighted Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for having tweeted Marx's words directly, noting, "They're not trying to hide it."

Maher also pinpointed left-wing influencer Hasan Piker's praise for communism and his lament over the fall of the Soviet Union and Maoist China, as well DSA candidates such as Darializa Avila Chevalier, who has supported "seizing the means of production."

Maher equated such language with communism, saying, "That's communism, which we tried, and it doesn't work." He noted other candidates who have expressed support for abolishing borders and prisons.

He also mentioned comments from Mamdani's top aide Cea Weaver, who affirmed the government's "sacred right to seize property" and referenced goals that include impoverishing the white middle class.

When Maher read a 2017 tweet from Weaver that expressed her desire to "elect more communists," members of his audience audibly responded in shock, to which Maher replied: "Good! I'm glad you're shocked. People gotta realize this is going on."

Maher framed the communist trend as an internal "raging fire festival" within the Democratic Party that has prompted a battle between those focused on winning elections and those who are sympathetic to overt communism.

"It's so ironic from the people who obsess about colonization. You know what's being colonized now? The Democratic Party," he said. He noted only eight of 212 Democratic members of Congress signed a recent pledge circulated by Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., and Adam Gray, D-Calif., that affirmed: "We are capitalists, not socialists. We want safety, not lawlessness. We are proud, not ashamed of America."

Maher, who has long identified as a classical liberal instead of a strict partisan Democrat, has increasingly criticized what he views as the Democratic Party's drift toward radical leftism, arguing it alienates mainstream voters. He has repeatedly claimed that his "vote is in play" for the 2028 presidential election.

Maher concluded his monologue by noting that he would sooner vote for former Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin over the rising crop of communist candidates in the Democratic Party.

Maher's complaints come as President Donald Trump has also been raising his concerns about the rise of communism in the Democratic Party. During a July 3 speech at Mount Rushmore, he declared communism as the greatest threat the United States has ever faced, telling the crowd in South Dakota that its danger is graver than both world wars, Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks.