"Real Time" host Bill Maher offered a rather grim monologue about what he sees happening after Tuesday's midterm elections.
"Well, we had a good run," Maher began his "New Rules" closer. "I know that's not really a rule but since everything in America is about to change in a very fundamental way, what the f---. Rules are about to go out the window. Tuesday's Election Day and I know I should probably tell you to vote and what honest to God is really the most important election ever. So, okay, yes, you should vote. And it should be for the one party that still stands for 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."
Maher complained how the Jan. 6 hearings have "changed nobody's mind" despite the "masterful job laying out the case" against former President Trump, noting that polls of people who say he did nothing wrong "went up three points," blaming it all on a "partisan America."
"Ben Franklin said our country was a republic, if you can keep it. Well, we can't," Maher told his audience. "And unless a miracle happens on Tuesday, we didn't. Democracy is on the ballot, and unfortunately, it's going to lose and once it's gone, it's gone. It's not somebody who can change your mind about in reverse. That's gender."
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The HBO star predicted that once Republican retake both chambers of Congress, "they'll begin impeaching Biden and never stop" over a myriad of things, making the president a "crippled duck when he goes up against the 2024 Trump-Kari Lake ticket."
"And even if Trump loses, it doesn't matter! On Inauguration Day 2025, he's going to show up whether he's on the list or not. And this time, he's not going to take no for an answer because this time, he will have behind him the army of election deniers that is being elected in four days," Maher said. "There are almost 300 candidates on the ballot this year, who don't believe in ballots, and they'll be the ones writing the rules and monitoring how votes are counted in 24."
"This really is the crossing the Rubicon moment when the election deniers are elected, which is often how countries slide into authoritarianism. Not with tanks in the streets, but by electing the people who then have no intention of ever giving it back… This is how it happens. Hitler was elected. So it was Mussolini, Putin, Erdoğan, Viktor Orban. This is the 'It can't happen to us moment' that's happening to us right now. We just don't feel it yet. We're the Titanic right after the iceberg hit," he said.
Maher continued, "And honestly, too many Americans just don't care. And won't even care after it happens. Because they never followed politics to begin with. And we're never taught in school what democratic government was supposed to look like. So how sad can they be about losing something they never knew they had?" he continued.
Maher went on by offering a "little farewell" to "things that really did make America great that now we're going to lose forever" like the peaceful transfer of power, the Bill of Rights and the rule of law.
"Make no mistake, it will be an entirely different way of life for many, because our elections will just be for show like in China and Russia and all the other places Trump says are ‘very strong,’" Maher said.
"So yeah, I urge you to vote but I've always been a realist. I'm afraid democracy is like the McRib; it's here now, it'll be around for a little bit longer, so enjoy it while you can," he added.
