Maher sparred with Congresswoman Karen Bass who was at the event to raise funds for a political action committee named Sea Change.
TV personality Bill Maher and 37th Congresswoman Karen Bass engaged in a feisty exchange during a recent backyard political fundraiser hosted by Sydney and Peter Julien at their Brentwood home.
Bass was raising money for a political action committee called Sea Change, which is designed to “resist” President Donald Trump and get Democrats elected in districts that could go either way in 2018 and 2020.
In 2010, according to Maher, Democrats were asleep at the wheel while Republicans were quietly organizing at the state level – just in time to have an impact on the census and the political redistricting that followed.
“How do Republicans win?” asked Maher. “They cheat.” Bass added, “They cheat and they lie.”
Maher said, “The Democrats don’t have a jugular instinct,” and by playing by the rules they got clobbered.
Maher also lamented the “impossible purity test” he said Democrats often impose upon themselves. An early Bernie Sanders supporter, Maher said he was appalled with Sanders voters who couldn’t find it within themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton for president.
Bass said she was proud Democrats had passed Obamacare and had so far successfully defended it against Republican attacks.
Maher countered that very few Democrats proudly stand behind Obamacare – or fellow Democrats, for that matter. This is one of the reasons they lose elections, he said. Democrats, he said, “follow the polls, they don’t lead.”
Maher also said the Russians helped steal the election, and Donald Trump was “AWOL” on the subject. “He’s our commander in chief, sworn to defend us against all enemies,” said Maher. “If Trump’s role in all this isn’t considered an impeachable offense, I don’t know what is.”
Maher called on Democrats to impeach Trump. Bass smiled but didn’t openly concur.
