Bill Maher warned the United States was "driving off a cliff" and falling prey to the same progressive politics as Canada because the country embraces "extreme wokeness."
Maher argued Canada should serve as a "cautionary tale" for the United States during a Friday broadcast of the comedian's long-running HBO program Real Time with Bill Maher.
The comedian began his monologue by noting he typically agreed with progressive liberal policies but emphasized the importance of acknowledging flawed ideas within the political ideology, referring to them as "zombie lies."
“They say in politics liberals are the gas pedal and conservatives are the brakes. And I’m generally with the gas pedal. But not if we’re driving off a cliff,” Maher said. “Canada was where every woke White college kid wearing pajama pants outdoors who had it up to here with America’s racist patriarchy dreamt of living someday."
"I mean, besides Gaza," he quipped.
“There’s only one problem with thinking everything’s better in Canada: It’s not. Not anymore, anyway,” Maher said, before highlighting the housing crisis plaguing Canada in comparison to the United States. "The median price of a home here is $346,000. In Canada converted to US dollars, it’s 487. If Barbie moved to Winnipeg, she wouldn’t be able to afford her dream house and Ken would be working at Tim Hortons.”
Maher also warned Canada's single-payer health care system was better in theory rather than practice.
“Their vaunted health care system, which ranks dead last among high income countries, and access to primary health care, and the ability to see a doctor in a day or two. And it’s not for lack of spending," he said. "Of the 30 countries with universal coverage, Canada spends over 13% of its economy on it, which is a lot of money for free health care. Look, I’m not saying Canada still isn’t a great country, it is, but those aren’t paradise numbers.”
The comedian said his remarks were not to disparage Canada, but rather provide a "cautionary tale" for the United States.
"The moral of that tale is, yes, you can move too far left, and when you do, you wind up pushing the people in the middle to the right," Maher said. "At its worst, Canada is what American voters think happens when there’s no one putting a check on extreme wokeness.”
Maher concluded his monologue by noting conservative-leaning candidates were being elected in European countries with progressive governments.
"Calling it racist doesn't solve the problem. It hands future elections to someone who will solve the problem, and who, I promise, you're not going to like," Maher added.
