Bill Maher appears to be getting red-pilled one baby step at a time, and his latest comments sounded strikingly different from what some viewers might expect.
This time, the comedian took aim at immigrants who refuse to assimilate after coming to the United States.
The shift follows Maher’s brutal monologue last week targeting the communists of the DSA.
This week, he devoted an entire bit to arguing that immigrants must accept Western culture and civilization, making him sound an awful lot like a Trump supporter.
Maher delivered the argument Friday during the latest episode of HBO’s “Real Time.”
He said immigrants must assimilate into American culture and accept fundamental principles that include gay rights, women’s equality and free speech.
Those principles, Maher argued, are “not White values,” but liberal ones. He also made clear that accepting the civilization behind those values is “not negotiable.”
Maher did not spare either side of the political spectrum while discussing how immigration has been handled.
According to him, there is “no doubt” that Democrats and Republicans “went to extremes.”
“If you want the American dream, you have to take the American values,” he said.
That statement became the foundation of a bit that combined criticism of both parties with a forceful defense of assimilation.
“Biden’s policy of open doors, and then Trump’s policy of broken windows,” Maher continued.
He then described his own preferred approach as America returning to what it once did well by drawing hard-working and talented immigrants from around the world and making them Americans.
Maher acknowledged that most immigrants still want to assimilate after arriving in the country.
However, he argued that some now reject the traditional idea of the American melting pot and instead expect the country around them to change.
Even while making a serious political point, Maher worked jokes into the monologue.
“Look, you don’t have to love everything about America. We don’t. That’s why Yelp was invented.”
He followed that line with another joke involving immigration enforcement.
“But, you know, if you do get past ICE, America’s actually pretty cool,” he continued.
Maher emphasized that assimilation does not require immigrants to abandon every part of their personal, religious or family culture.
His description of America allowed plenty of room for people to maintain their food, language, holidays, art and fashion.
“We say, ‘You do you.’ Eat the food your grandma cooked. Speak another language at home. Celebrate religious holidays. We welcome your food, your art, your fashion, your first ladies.”
Still, Maher said immigration comes with a cost for those who choose to make the United States their home.
That cost, in his telling, is accepting the Western civilization and core liberal values that define the country.
“But you have to answer one question: Do you like Western civilization? Because that’s what we are. And that’s not negotiable,” he said.
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The declaration left little ambiguity about the standard Maher believes immigrants must meet.
The monologue presented assimilation as compatible with maintaining personal traditions, but not with rejecting the principles Maher identified.
His list centered on gay rights, women’s equality and free speech, which he separated from racial identity by calling them liberal values rather than White values.
For Maher, the distinction allowed him to defend American values without arguing that immigrants must erase their individual cultures.
They can speak another language at home, observe religious holidays and keep family traditions while still accepting the civilization of the country they entered.
The remarks also continue what looks like a notable change in Maher’s political messaging.
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After taking on the DSA last week, he has now challenged immigrants who reject assimilation and criticized Democratic and Republican immigration policies in the same segment.
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That raises the question of whether Maher is preparing his audience for a bigger change in 2028.
He has already indicated that he is open to voting for JD Vance, and this latest monologue will only intensify curiosity about where his politics are heading.
