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Bill Maher said he could see himself voting for Vice President J.D. Vance if the Republican runs for president in 2028, saying his vote is “in play” as he grows increasingly frustrated with the Democratic Party.
The 70-year-old comedian appeared on the July 19 episode of ABC’s This Week, where he questioned whether he still feels politically aligned with today’s Democrats.
The Real Time With Bill Maher host explained that there’s a “level of nutty” within the party’s progressive wing that’s become increasingly difficult for him to support, Wonderwall.com can report.
Maher criticizes progressive Democrats
Maher told ABC’s Jonathan Karl, ”This wing of the party, this new wing with all the energy … It’s just a level of nutty that I’m so glad that whenever it was, I was like, no, I’m not going along because this is where it ends.”
He also said he could vote for a Republican candidate in 2028. When Karl asked the 2026 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor recipient, “Could you see yourself voting for J.D. Vance?” Maher replied, “Yes,” explaining, “If this is the, the Democratic side, yes.
“My vote is in play [in 2028] because it can’t be [President Donald] Trump running, so I’m not living in communist America,” Maher explained.
Maher says Democrats are ‘cowardly’
The Emmy Award winner also suggested Democrats have avoided his HBO show because they’re afraid of his potential criticism.
“The Democrats don’t come on [my show], and yet they got my vote. It’s just odd, isn’t it?” he mused. “Democrats are cowardly, they’re cowardly. Their party is being taken over now by, you know, every day I hear about a new very radical.”
Maher explained that he thinks Democrats will win back some control in Washington, D.C., in the upcoming midterms, which “will still be a referendum on Trump,” he said.
As for the potential Democratic candidates for president in 2028, Maher quipped, “I hope we can have an eight-person presidency next time because I can’t pick between this crop of geniuses,” adding, “No, there’s some very talented people. My problem is, like I told you, the people, a lot of people on the left won’t come [on my show].”
Maher explains Vance’s support for Trump’s 2020 election loss denial
Maher also revisited his June interview with Vance, criticizing Republicans who continue to deny the outcome of the 2020 election — that former President Joe Biden beat Trump. “They can’t because they know he’s watching. They know where their bread is buttered. … he has to do that. Trump is watching,” Maher said on This Week.
“This stuff that’s going on now, as I said to the vice president, this s— has to stop,” Maher said, if Vance wants a shot at the White House.
Maher added that he “had a good time” talking to Vance on his HBO show. “I always say it — everybody’s a monster till you talk to them. You can disagree with them a lot, but you know, he has to do that. Trump is watching,” Maher reiterated.
He believes “there’s a kind of a winking thing with those kind of guys,” he added. “It’s like, you know, he’s crazy. I know he’s crazy. I know you’re saying this because you have to because he’s watching. You know, I know.”
Trump’s beef with Maher
Maher recently accepted the Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center, where Trump is now chairman. After years of criticism from Maher, Trump allegedly tried to block the comedy star from receiving the award from the center’s board, with the White House calling initial reports that Maher would be honored “fake news.”
“He was just mad at me because I went to his house for dinner [in March 2025] with no guarantee that I would leave — guarantee? It was never in the cards that I was ever going to come over to their — his — side,” Maher said. “You know, it’s better to just talk and go through this.”
After the dinner, which was set up by mutual pal Kid Rock, Maher talked about it on his HBO show.
“I reported honestly that it, no, it wasn’t a terrible experience at all. From a guy who has done some terrible things,” Maher said.
Trump intensified his criticism of Maher after their meeting. “Because now he feels betrayed,” Maher suggested, “which is silly because there was never a deal. It was only set up as, instead of shouting at each other, talk to each other.”
