On the latest episode of Club Random, Bill Maher sat down with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk for what many expected to be a clash of political opposites.
But what unfolded was something far more surprising: a candid, wide-ranging conversation that revealed just how much common ground these two actually share—especially when it comes to calling out the modern left.
It kicked off with a sharp joke from Kirk, who warned Maher that the “purple-hair jihadis” would be coming for him next.
“They want to kill me just as bad. Oh, they really do!” Maher responded. He explained, “They hate their own apostates more. I’m supposed to get on the short bus to crazy town with them—and I won’t.”
From there, Maher began to draw a clear line between classic liberal values and what he called the “woke” ideology taking over the Democratic Party.
“I am one of them! They’re not one of me,” he said. “Liberal and woke are two completely different things—woke is very often the opposite.”
Maher explained, “Liberalism is, let’s live in a colorblind society. That’s the goal. Woke’s goal is, ‘We see race everywhere.’ Liberal is, ‘There’s a two-state solution.’ Woke is ‘river to the sea.’”
Then came a line that cut to the core of his frustration: “You got off the F-train, you fell asleep, and you got off at 20 stops too far. Don’t blame me for that.”
The conversation pivoted to an issue even some liberals are struggling to defend: women’s sports. Kirk praised Maher for speaking out.
“You deserve credit for being a liberal that acknowledges male-female distinctions,” he said.
“Oh, of course! Of all the low-lying fruit the Democrats just hand the Republicans to win elections, that’s the one,” Maher responded.
Kirk grinned and asked, “Are they really gonna let us win every national election on this no-men-in-women’s-sports thing?”
Maher answered bluntly: “It’s so ridiculous.”
He cited the stat that 890 trophies had already gone to biological males competing in women’s events—and even pointed out that California’s own Gavin Newsom had backed away from the debate.
“You lost Gavin Newsom on this,” he said. “Take that as a hint.”
Then came the part no one saw coming. Maher opened up about a recent dinner he had with President Trump—and pushed back on the idea that engaging with him was somehow off-limits.
“I voted for Obama, I voted for Clinton,” Maher said. “But the idea that I could talk to them as freely as I felt this conversation was going, is emblematic to me of why the Democrats lose the elections. Because they just don’t feel that this is like a real person.”
He got even more honest: “And I know it’s so weird to say that about Donald Trump, who I’ve said a jillion times is, you know, a whiny little b*tch, I could go through my greatest hits of insults. But this was about getting past that and maybe seeing that if we met in person, we don’t hate each other as much. And we don’t!”
“I’m sorry, I’m not going to pretend that’s a bad thing,” Maher added.
That’s when Kirk delivered a line that stopped the conversation cold.
“You had more moral courage than pastors I know who went along with the woke crazy train,” he said. “You deserve credit for that—because it came at a high cost.”
Maher nodded in agreement. For a moment, the two ideological opposites sounded completely in sync. Maher didn’t sugarcoat his assessment of what’s dragging his party down.
“Until we get rid of that sh*t, they’re never going to win another election,” he said.
Kirk replied, “They’re not going to take political advice from me.”
Maher responded, “No, but they might from me. Not the 10%—but that’s 10%. They’re very loud, but that’s it.”
Then came a quote that’s never felt more relevant: “As FDR once said, ‘I welcome their hatred.’”
Two men with very different worldviews just exposed what many Americans already sense: the far left isn’t leading the Democrats forward. It’s dragging them down. And unless the party finds the courage to cut that anchor loose, it’s going to sink with it.
Watch the full conversation below:
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