Bill Maher on 2022 midterms: ‘Democracy is on the ballot’ and ‘it’s going to lose’

Comedian and HBO host Bill Maher expressed concerns on Friday about the outcome of the 2022 midterm elections amid recent polling that shows the GOP in good position to take control of Congress.

“Democracy is on the ballot and unfortunately, it’s going to lose,” Maher said on his show “Real Time.”  

Maher continued: “Everything in America is about to change in a fundamental way” after the “most important election ever.” 

He also encouraged his audience to vote for the party that still supports “democracy preservation.” 

“It’s also a waste of breath because anyone who believes that is already voting, and anyone who needs to learn that isn’t watching, and no one in America can be persuaded of anything anymore anyway,” he said. 

Maher said the public hearings of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection changed no one’s mind, despite the committee doing a “masterful” job laying out their case. 

“Ben Franklin said our country was a ‘republic, if you can keep it.’ Well, we can’t, and unless a miracle happens on Tuesday, we didn’t. Democracy is on the ballot, and unfortunately, it’s going to lose,” Maher said. “And once it’s gone, it’s gone.” 

Republicans appear poised to regain control of the House in the midterm elections and have a chance of regaining the majority in the Senate. GOP candidates in various races across the country have closed the polling gaps with their Democratic rivals and in some cases taken or expanded leads in recent weeks. 

Maher claimed that after Republicans retake control of Congress, they will start impeaching President Biden and “never stop.” He said they will impeach him for overseeing the botched evacuation of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, supporting Ukraine, inflation, a recession and “falling off his bike.” 

Multiple ultra conservative members of Congress and candidates have called for impeaching Biden over issues like the economy and border security, but House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has downplayed the likelihood of the GOP doing so. 

Maher said Biden will be a “crippled duck” when he runs against former President Trump, who is expected to announce a third White House for the 2024 election cycle in a couple weeks.

Maher said even if Trump loses, he will “show up” to the inauguration in 2025 and have behind him an “army of election deniers” who will be elected in the midterm elections Tuesday. 

The host pointed to a large number of Republican candidates running this midterm cycle who back Trump’s unsupported claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. Maher said that these candidates, once elected to office, will be writing the rules of how votes are counted in 2024. 

He also slammed Tim Michels, the GOP nominee for governor in Wisconsin, for comments he made about future elections.

“This really is the crossing the Rubicon moment, when election deniers are elected, which is often how countries slide into authoritarianism,” Maher said. “Not with tanks in the streets but by the electing people who then have no intention of ever giving it back.”