Bill Maher Criticizes Leading Democrats for Dodging His Show Invitations

Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher has claimed that New York politicians Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani have chosen not to appear on his HBO show, Real Time.

Maher, 70, made the claim on X over the weekend, while sharing footage of his Friday interview with JD Vance.

In a social media post accompanying a video, Maher expressed his desire to feature @AOC and @ZohranKMamdani as guests, lamenting, ‘I would love to have them on the show, but I can’t subpoena the guests.’

The clip also spotlighted Maher applauding Republican figures like Vance for joining his panel discussions and ‘handling the criticism bravely.’

Maher expressed his frustration, saying, ‘The ones who get my vote are the ones avoiding me. Isn’t that strange?’

In agreement, the vice president mentioned Darializa Avila Chevalier, a progressive congressional candidate in New York’s 13th district, questioning with sarcasm if ‘she’ll make it to the show.’

‘No!’ Maher answered, before rattling off several other names. ‘I can’t get AOC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]. I can’t get [Zohran] Mamdani. I couldn’t get Kamala Harris.’

‘It took me eight years to get [Barack] Obama,’ he admitted.

Obama appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher back on November 4, 2016, just days before Donald Trump was elected.

‘Anyway, let’s not talk about my problems,’ Maher told Vance, to a wave of laughter from the audience.

The host then joked that the spot would be kinder to the conservative ‘than the Iranians’ – a nod to the latter’s claim that a recent View appearance showed his ability to handle the ‘high-stakes negotiations’ needed to end the war on June 18.

Maher, a longtime Democrat, warned that he was losing faith in the party due to Democratic socialist policies from people like Mamdani, Ocasio-Cortez, and Avila Chevalier.

‘Like, if this is where the Democratic Party is going… this obsession with Israel, with the Jew-hating – they don’t believe in capitalism, no prisons. 

‘If this is where they’re going, my vote is in play,’ Maher said.

He told Vance he has no problem voting against party lines if it means achieving what’s best for the country.

‘I’m just glad you’re talking to me, you know?’ he told the vice president, weeks after using a portion of his program to address a jab from Trump about his ratings.

‘Every year, I don’t make my decision by who has an R or a D, I actually always came to the conclusion that the Democrat was probably better and voted for them,’ Maher said on Friday.

It was recently revealed the host sat with Trump for dinner at the White House in March of last year. The dinner was made public by a February 2026 Truth Social post by the president.

It accused Maher – who has soured on Democrats for more than a year now – for having ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome.’ 

‘He is no different than Kimmel, Fallon, or Colbert but, I must admit, slightly more talented!’ Trump wrote at the time, saying Real Time had at some stage ‘devolve[d] into the same old story – Very boring, ANTI TRUMP.’

‘Regardless, I’d much rather spend my time MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN than wasting it on him,’ Trump wrote at the time.

‘Bill continues to suffer from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS!), and there is nothing that will ever be done to cure him of this very serious disease.’

Maher responded during a March edition of Real Time, accusing the president of ‘suffer[ing] from Bill Maher Derangement Syndrome.’

‘I will not consider the dinner “a waste of time,” even as I now see we’re back to name calling and that I have some new ones like, “highly overrated lightweight” to add to the list you signed,’ Maher said on-air. 

He added of the dinner: ‘I was having a good time. So were you, Don, because we were talking like real humans, not like that crazy act you put on in public.’

On June 19’s episode, Maher mocked Trump’s 14-point Iran deal. Maher joked that he hoped the US played Iran in the World Cup to ‘beat them at something.’

Maher voted for Harris in 2024, he confirmed in a May edition of his Club Random podcast. He told rapper Will.i.am that ‘ironically’, it was ‘mostly Democrats’ who refused to ‘come on the show.’

‘Like, because they’re such p*****s,’ he said at the time. ‘Democrats are p*****s about going anywhere that they’re not already pre-adored.

‘Not all of them, but I mean, somebody…Kamala Harris, I mean, like I always say to my woke friends, we voted for the same person.

‘You’re just why she lost.’ 

The Daily Mail has approached both Mayor Mamdani and Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s offices for comment.