Maher says election ‘not looking that great’ for Harris, mocks need to have Obama ‘scold’ Black men on voting
HBO host Bill Maher suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris’ prospects for winning the 2024 presidential election aren’t looking too good less than a month out from Nov. 5.
During Friday’s episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the comedian commented on the state of the race, declaring that the fact that the Democratic Party is having to prod Black men into supporting Harris is a bad sign.
“And I gotta say it’s not looking that great for the Democrats,” he said at the start of his show Friday night.
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“Real Time” host Bill Maher declared this week that the election is “not looking that great for the Democrats.” (Screenshot/HBO)
He continued, “This is not a good sign, you know – when you have an African American candidate, you probably shouldn’t be having to shore up your support among Black men, but that’s what’s going on.”
Harris’ challenges with appealing to Black male voters were especially pronounced this week when former President Barack Obama ripped into Black men during a campaign stop in Pittsburgh for not being as enthusiastic about Harris’ presidential bid as they were for his 2008 and 2012 political campaigns.
“We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all corners of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” he said, elsewhere adding, “I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”
On his program, Maher mocked the fact that the campaign is going to deploy Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., to speak to Black male voters directly.
“Tim Walz is headlining a voter engagement event tonight with Black men. Who better to connect with young Black men than Tim Walz?” he asked.
“Because apparently Michael Bublé was unavailable,” he quipped to raucous laughter.
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Maher poked fun at the fact that former US President Barack Obama had to resort to “scolding” Black men into supporting Harris. (Michelle Gustafson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He added another punchline: “Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian’s like, ‘Hello?’”
Maher then brought up Obama’s recent comments, saying, “Obama even came out yesterday to scold. You know, he was scolding. Well, I don’t know – last month at the convention, he was, ‘No scolding!’ Now he’s scolding. He was saying, ‘You gotta vote for Harris.’”
He concluded the point with one last joke, stating, “But of course for some young – especially the younger Black men – it’s tough choice. Harris is African American but Trump has a sneaker line.”
Later during the episode, Maher spoke to his guest panel, including conservative commentator Buck Sexton and CNN host Laura Coates, about the Harris campaign’s problems more generally.
Reading from recent report on Harris’ polling, he said, “At this point in 2020, Biden – with far fewer resources than Harris has – was ten points ahead of Trump, and in 2016, Hillary was six up. And she is only 2.6 up. Pennsylvania – Biden was up seven at this point. She’s up one. Michigan – Biden was up eight and she’s tied.”
Fox News Digital’s Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.