Comedian Bill Maher blasted Democratic rhetoric surrounding “whiteness” during Friday night’s episode of Real Time, arguing that the party needs to move away from language he believes alienates voters while singling out Wisconsin gubernatorial hopeful Francesca Hong.
Maher first raised the issue during his opening monologue before returning to it later in the program, using Hong as an example of what he called one of the Democratic Party’s biggest political liabilities.
Referring to comments Hong previously made about her mixed-race son, Maher criticized her discussion of what she described as her continued “proximity to whiteness.”
“Look at this Francesca Hong. I mentioned it in the monologue, what she said about whiteness and toxicity,” Maher said. “She described her son — now she has an ex-husband white. Okay. She’s Asian. She described it as wrestling with — this is her own son — being in proximity to whiteness. Of all the things I think the Democrats have to lose, number one, whiteness, it’s not a disease.”
Maher argued that Democrats should abandon that style of messaging altogether.
“This has got to go,” he said, calling the party’s focus on “whiteness” its “big flaw.”
The remarks stem from a 2021 interview Hong gave to ListenMKE, where she discussed raising her biracial son with chef Matt Morris, who is now her ex-husband.
“My proximity to whiteness continues, right?” Hong said during that interview. “My son is biracial. He is half white and half Korean, and I think navigating, you know, what his identity is and how people perceive him is always at the back of my mind.”
Maher also revisited another controversy involving Hong, referencing criticism she has faced over previous comments calling for Thanksgiving to be canceled. According to the article, Hong now says she “loves” the holiday.
During Friday’s broadcast, Maher mocked both Hong’s earlier remarks and what he characterized as Democrats embracing unpopular cultural positions.
“Democrats have found a candidate who hates Thanksgiving and wants to get rid of it. Yes, running for governor in Wisconsin, Francesca Hong. Have you heard about this? Yeah, Thanksgiving, she says, should be canceled. I say good. Finally, a politician willing to stand up to big stuffing,” Maher joked, drawing laughs from the audience.
He followed the joke with another swipe at the Democratic Party.
“Wow. Oh, you gotta love the Democrats,” he said.
Maher suggested that positions like those would leave many Americans, regardless of political affiliation, puzzled. He argued that both Democrats and Republicans would likely struggle to understand why a candidate would target a widely celebrated national holiday.
The comedian also dismissed Hong’s more recent embrace of Thanksgiving, accusing her of attempting to distance herself from earlier remarks for political reasons.
“I don’t believe you! I don’t believe you people who renounce things,” Maher said. “We know what you said, you mean it, live by it. Don’t f*cking squirrelly out of it!”
Maher’s comments add to the criticism Hong has received over past statements about race and Thanksgiving, with the longtime television host portraying her remarks as emblematic of broader messaging problems within the Democratic Party.
Throughout the segment, Maher maintained that Democratic rhetoric surrounding “whiteness” has become politically damaging, arguing that the party would be better served by abandoning what he described as divisive language. He repeatedly pointed to Hong’s past comments as an example of the type of messaging he believes Democrats should leave behind if they hope to connect with a broader group of voters.
