Senator and avowed socialist Bernie Sanders struggled to explain the difference between "equity" and "equality" on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" Friday night, in an exchange that has gone viral online.
Maher pressed Sanders, author of the book "It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism," to give his stance on the debate.
"Are we confusing equality of opportunity with trying to guarantee equity in outcomes?" Maher asked his guests.
"I think this word ‘equity’ has come into the language in the last few years and before that we didn’t hear it a lot. And I think a lot of people hear ‘equity’ and they hear ‘equality’ like it’s the same word, but it’s not the same word and the same concept," Maher explained.
"So how would you differentiate between equity and equality?" he asked Sanders.
"Well equality, we talk about – uh, I don’t know what the answer to that is," Sanders said to laughter.
"Equality is equality of opportunity," he added in an attempt to define one of the terms.
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Maher continued to push Sanders on the exact definition.
"Equity, I think, is more of a guarantee of outcome, is it not?" Maher said, interrupting Sanders.
"Yeah, I think so," Sanders said.
"Which side do you come down on?" Maher asked Sanders, again pressing him on the issue.
"Equality," Sanders responded.
Radio host Buck Sexton slammed Sanders for the clip Saturday. "Bernie Sanders is an ignorant moron who doesn’t understand the foundational tenets of the belief system he’s been pushing for 60 years," he wrote on Twitter.
Political commentator Dave Rubin said that the senator’s flub should end his career. "This should officially end the Bernie Sanders Grift," Rubin mused.
"It shouldn’t end because he’s a fraud and anyone with half a brain knew it. It should end because he doesn’t know the difference between equity/equality, then fumbles out that he’s for equality…despite his entire socialist progressive exercise built on equity," Rubin wrote, adding a clown emoji at the end of the tweet.
OutKick founder Clay Travis praised Sanders for defending "equality" over "equity" on Maher’s popular show. "Bernie Sanders said last night with @billmaher that he favors equality over equity. He will now be burned at the Democrat stake. But good for him. He’s right."
But Travis argued that the exchange between Maher and Sanders proved another point. "He also didn’t even know what equity was, which is perfect. So many of these social media Democrat talking points are such woke bulls--t that even their own politicians aren’t familiar with."
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Sanders has also come under fierce criticism after it was revealed that tickets for his show criticizing capitalism would cost his fans $95.
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Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital that "Sanders is the ultimate capitalist."
Fox News’ Houston Keene contributed to this report.
