Bill Maher salutes voters for proving him wrong after he predicted a big GOP wave

HBO host Bill Maher has admitted he was wrong in predicting big GOP gains in the midterms, after he projected the Democrats would be derailed by their focus on identity politics.

‘How about the American people — I mean really, I didn’t have faith and they proved me wrong,’ the left-leaning pundit remarked in his monologue for Friday’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. 

‘Democracy–I think they look at it like the catalytic converter, you know? They’re not quite sure what it is, but they know it would be bad if it got stolen,’ quipped Maher.

‘But of course because this is America, we still don’t really know who won!,’ he added, noting that control of Congress has yet to be determined days after Tuesday’s election.

HBO host Bill Maher has admitted he was wrong in predicting big GOP gains in the midterms, after he projected the Democrats would be derailed by their focus on identity politics

Republicans are still inching towards claiming a narrow majority in the US House, with a number of races yet to be decided

Maher, a self-proclaimed ‘traditional liberal’, had predicted major GOP gains before the election, commenting last week that ‘left has gone super crazy with lots of s**t that the average American just never voted for.’ 

On Saturday morning, Republicans were still inching towards claiming a narrow majority in the US House, with a number of races yet to be decided. However, the sweeping gains that many expected for the party did not materialize.

If Democrats fail to capture the US Senate race in Nevada, which is still too close to call, control of the Senate could come down to a December runoff race in Georgia.

The Georgia runoff will pit incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, against GOP challenger Herschel Walker, after neither failed to capture an outright majority of votes. 

‘Herschel Walker’s very excited,’ joked Maher. ‘He said he wants to make sure he gets a first term — unlike most of his children,’ he added, referring to multiple women who alleged the anti-abortion candidate encouraged and paid for their abortions.

Maher also praised the outcome of the US Senate race in Pennsylvania, where Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democrat, defeated Donald Trump’s hand-picked Republican candidate, Dr. Mehmet Oz. 

‘I see this as a victory of substance over style. He was running against Dr. Oz, who’s a very dapper, media-savvy heart surgeon — and he lost to a guy who dresses like the airline lost his luggage,’ joked Maher.

Maher called the Pennsylvania Senate race a ‘victory of substance over style’ after Republican Mehmet Oz (left) lost to Democrat John Fetterman (right) even though Fetterman ‘dresses like the airline lost his luggage’

If Democrats fail to capture the US Senate race in Nevada, which is still too close to call, control of the Senate could come down to a December runoff race in Georgia

Maher also acknowledged Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis for his sweeping re-election victory, after the Republican surged ahead of his challenger Charlie Crist by a 19-point margin.

Maher joked that DeSantis’ unofficial motto, ‘Florida is where woke goes to die’, had ‘resonated with voters’ and joked: ‘of course Florida is where everybody goes to die.’ 

The comedian praised DeSantis as the new ‘golden boy of the Republican Party,’ and joked ‘Trump finally knows what it feels like to be traded in for a younger model.’ 

In a panel discussion later in the episode, Maher also had words of admiration for DeSantis and tore into Trump.

‘Yes, he knows how to rile up the base. I agree. He’s a politician, but he also can be a normal governor,’ Maher said of DeSantis as he debated Rep. Mo Khanna, a California Democrat.

Maher praised Ron DeSantis as the new ‘golden boy of the Republican Party,’ and joked ‘Trump finally knows what it feels like to be traded in for a younger model’

While Khanna argued that DeSantis is too extreme, Maher took the opposite view, defending the Republican as a capable governor while acknowledging he has a flair for political stunts. 

‘In other words, after [Hurricane Ian], he can stand with President Biden like a normal governor does and work with him and then send some migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. And that’s a very powerful thing, to have both those elements,’ said Maher.

The comedian argued that Trump, on the other hand, is now a ‘loser’ and is dragging down the GOP, an argument some Republicans have also made in assessing the party’s weak midterm performance.

‘I mean Georgia — how many elections has he now f***ed up in Georgia?’ Maher said of Trump. 

‘Not since Sherman has anyone caused this amount of damage in Georgia than he has caused to the Republican Party.’