Bill Maher Gives Democrats Advice on 'Most Important' Step to Win Again

Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher gave Democrats advice on Friday on the "most important" step to win again following their 2024 election loss.

Newsweek has reached out to Democratic National Committee (DNC) via online form for comment.

Why It Matters

Maher, like some moderate Democrats, blame so-called "woke" actions and policies as a key reason their party lost in 2024. Democrats suffered losses across the board last year, losing the presidency and the Senate while failing to flip the House of Representatives.

The party's setback has led it into a period of reflection, working to redefine itself, assess the reasoning for its losses and identify its base and messaging, which did not resonate as strongly as expected. Since the 2024 election, there has been an ongoing debate within the party between its progressive and moderate factions about how to move forward with a winning message.

What To Know

Friday's segment of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, titled "New Rule: Guilt by Civilization" featured the comedian giving Democrats advice on the "most important" step to win an election again.

"Memo to Democrats if you ever want to win an election again the absolute most important first step is stop doing this," Maher said followed by a clip of actor and dancer Julianne Hough's opening announcement during Sunday's Academy Awards that paid homage to the Native Americans who once lived on the land where Hollywood now stands.

"We gather in celebration of the Oscars on the ancestral lands of the Tongva, Tataviam, and Chumash peoples, the traditional caretakers of this water and land," Hough said.

According to the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, a land acknowledgement is "a formal statement that respects and recognizes Native Americans as the original stewards of the land."

Maher, however, critiqued this and said, "I don't know if we're still saying 'cringe,' but if we are, that's this."

"I've said it before, I'll say it again—either give the land back or shut the f*** up! I understand the desire to right the wrongs of the past, especially when you get to take the moral high ground and then build an 8,000-square-foot mansion on it," Maher said, challenging Hollywood who, in his view, make grand statements about justice while enjoying immense privilege.

Maher then targeted the "simplistic idea of guilt by civilization" and the romanticization of indigenous cultures.

"Can we please get over this idea that ancient people weren't just as full of s***—in fact, more full of s***—than humans today? This idea that being ancient and Indigenous was always better than us? It wasn't."

Maher said that, for all its flaws, modern civilization has brought progress. "The march of civilization has been bloody and painful, but we generally got to a better place, not a worse one—not just technologically, but in how we treat each other."

While it's unclear why exactly Maher made a connection between Democrats and Hough's statement about Native Americans, it comes after moderate Democrats blame so-called "woke" actions for their 2024 election loss. A November 2024 YouGov poll found that 57 percent of Americans believed that political correctness played a role in the election and many of the terms cited in the survey regularly feature in America's culture wars.

Maher's remarks come as Native American voters have become increasingly recognized as a crucial voting bloc in U.S. elections particularly in swing states like Arizona, Nevada and Michigan. Their impact has been seen as significant in previous elections as their turnout has sometimes been the deciding factor in close races.

In Arizona, Native American voters were instrumental in securing victories for Democratic candidates in the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 midterms. Their support of former President Joe Biden helped him become the first Democrat to win Arizona in over two decades. In Nevada and Michigan, Native American voters have also contributed to maintaining Democratic strongholds.

Meanwhile, liberals have been growing increasingly frustrated by their leaders, who some see as coming across "tone deaf" and failing to meet the moment of President Donald Trump's swift upending of federal bureaucracy in his first three weeks in office.

That frustration manifested itself in the online response to a video clip that circulated in early February showing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the party's top elected official, leading chants of "We will win!" months after suffering one of the biggest Democratic losses in decades. Many progressives expressed puzzlement at how the party had failed to conduct a proper autopsy on the last election cycle.

What People Are Saying

Democratic strategist Doug Gordon, co-founder of UpShift Strategies, previously told Newsweek: "In this moment, the actions Democrats take will speak much louder than the actual words they use. The status quo of sternly worded letters and Capitol Hill press conferences is not going to cut it. You can't bring a knife to a gunfight."

David B. Cohen, a professor of political science at the University of Akron, previously told Newsweek: "The Democratic Party seems to be waking up from the slumber it has been in since the 2024 election...Americans who did not vote for Donald Trump or Elon Musk or support their dismantling of the federal government have grown increasingly frustrated and panicked over the lackluster effort to oppose him. They want Democrats to do something—anything—to oppose the Trump agenda."

Gabriel R. Sanchez, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told the Associated Press in October 2024 that Native Americans tend to vote for Democratic candidates and that they are one of the youngest and least partisan voting demographics in the U.S., often driven by issues close to home—such as land rights, environmental protections and economic opportunities.

In an August 2024 interview with MSNBC's The Katie Phang Show, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, who is the highest-ranking Native American official in the United States, said: "I think Native people are strategically located in swing states across the country and our vote, the Native vote, can make or break a campaign or election. So, in many ways, ignore us at your peril."

What Happens Next?

The 2026 midterms are expected to serve as a referendum on the Republican Party's leadership and a test of the Democratic Party's strength.