'We all hate each other': Bill Maher decries America’s 'cold civil war'
In the days leading up to the 2022 midterm elections, Bill Maher sounded the alarm about all the far-right MAGA election deniers who were running for office — warning that if enough of them were elected to state governments, they could help former President Donald Trump pull off a coup in 2024’s presidential election. Maher feared that Tuesday, November 8 would spell doom for U.S. democracy if Republicans gained control of election management in key swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona.
But the 2022 midterms turned out to be a major disappointment for the Republican Party, with Democrats winning gubernatorial races in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and many other states — although the votes were still being counted in Arizona’s very close gubernatorial race on Friday morning, November 11. Republicans still may win control of both houses of Congress, but not by the huge margins that the Republican National Committee (RNC) was hoping for.
When Maher appeared on Jimmy Kimmel’s show on Election Night, a lot of votes were still being counted. The political comedian and “Real Time” host noted that Brazil, where far-right President Jair Bolsonaro was recently voted out of office in a runoff election, counts votes much faster than the United States — a country that, Maher laments, is much too divided politically.
Maher told Kimmel, “We should make Election Day a national holiday, like many other countries do…. When the voting goes on for weeks and months — whatever it’s going to do, even if it’s days — it just sows doubt into people, because we don’t trust each other anymore. We all hate each other. We’re at each other’s throats. We’re in this cold civil war.”
Kimmel noted that Maher, before the November 8 elections, “seemed very pessimistic” and warned his viewers they could “say goodbye to democracy.”
Kimmel told Maher, “That’s scary to hear anyone say that” — and Maher responded, “It is realistic, unfortunately. Yeah…. Trump has not conceded the last election.”
Maher added that Republicans who “don’t believe in elections” are “winning elections,” and he took a swipe at Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri — who promoted the Big Lie after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and will be up for reelection in 2024.
Maher told Kimmel, “(Hawley) said: I’m just asking questions. Yeah, questions like: Why does the guy with the most votes always have to win?”
Kimmel went on to ask Maher if it bothers him that Fox News goes out its way to emphasize his criticisms of Democrats when, in fact, he spends a lot more time bashing Republicans. And Maher responded, “(Fox News) never shows the part of my show that would go against their point of view. But honestly, look, that happens on the left too. We’re all in our silos now. That is part of the problem.”