Bill Maher calls Democrats’ whiteness rhetoric a ‘big flaw,’ says it’s ‘not a disease’

WASHINGTON, DC: Bill Maher on Friday, Aug 7’s episode of ‘Real Time’ tore into progressive Democrats for their language on race, warning that some Democrats have created a ton of distrust among their white voters.

Maher singled out Francesca Hong, a progressive candidate for governor in Wisconsin, for remarks she had made regarding her biracial son and her “proximity to whiteness.”

Bill Maher says Democrats have a problem with ‘whiteness’

“Number one, whiteness, it’s not a disease,” Maher said. “This has got to go.”

“Look at this Francesca Hong. I mentioned it in the monologue: what she said about whiteness and toxicity. She described her son; now she has an ex-husband white. OK. She’s Asian. She described it as wrestling with this is her own son, being in proximity to whiteness. Of all the things I think the Democrats have to lose, number one, whiteness, it’s not a disease,” he said.

Maher was referring to comments Hong made during a 2021 interview with ListenMKE, in which she discussed raising her son, who is half White and half Korean.

“My proximity to whiteness continues, right?” she said. “My son is biracial. He is half White and half Korean, and I think navigating, you know, what his identity is and how people perceive him is always at the back of my mind.”

Maher added, “This has got to go,” and called Democrats’ talk about “whiteness” their “big flaw.”

Hong has been criticized for past comments, including a previous suggestion to eliminate Thanksgiving, though she says she loves the holiday.

On his Friday broadcast, Maher pointed to Hong as a prime example of what he considers misguided among progressive Democrats. “Democrats have found a candidate who hates Thanksgiving and wants to get rid of it. Yes, running for governor in Wisconsin, Francesca Hong.”

“Have you heard about this? Yeah, Thanksgiving, she says, should be canceled. I say good. Finally, a politician willing to stand up to big stuffing,” he joked. “Wow. Oh, you gotta love the Democrats.”

Bill Maher had a warning for Michigan race

Earlier, Maher also framed a similar rhetoric regarding the win of Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Democratic primary for the US Senate.

El-Sayed, the child of Egyptian immigrants, ran on a left-wing platform with the backing of such liberal stalwarts as Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Maher had said, “I think [Abdul El-Sayed] is going to win Michigan because in the Democratic Party, when you’re a person of color, it allows you to be more centrist. A lot of these people… they simply don’t trust White people, and I’m talking mostly about the White people. They don’t like white people, White people don’t like White people.”

“I’m saying it allowed you to be more centrist like Obama was. They just trust you more.”

Maher’s comments come as Democrats remain locked in a debate over how the party should appeal to voters of different races and political stripes, with Maher regularly making the case that progressive language could alienate key voters.