On the Nov. 17 episode of his Club Random podcast, Bill Maher argued that liberals have embraced extreme positions and sparred with guest Patton Oswalt over gender policy, UK immigration and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s political prospects.
Maher pressed his case that Democrats have overreached on several fronts. “The Left freaked out about a lot of bullsh**,” he said, listing gender, race, parenthood, schools, homelessness, crime, the border, and education before adding, “We stopped being a scientific people.” Oswalt pushed back: “But the Left certainly stayed scientific.”
Maher argued the left “went way too far” on gender and claimed there had been a period in California when officials did not want sex listed on birth certificates. That specific claim is inaccurate: California has not enacted a law to remove sex from birth certificates. The state permits male, female, or nonbinary markers and allows residents to amend their birth certificates without a court order; nationally, the American Medical Association has recommended removing sex from the public portion of birth certificates, but that is guidance, not California law.
According to the Daily Wire’s account of the episode, Maher also needled Oswalt for living in a “Bluesky bubble,” suggesting certain stories don’t reach him there. The conversation turned to the UK, where Maher cited widely reported grooming-gang scandals and described cases involving men of Pakistani heritage exploiting mainly white British girls. Those scandals have been documented over decades in towns such as Rotherham and Rochdale and led to multiple official inquiries. National research by the UK Home Office in 2020, however, concluded that group‑based child sexual exploitation offenders are most commonly white overall, even as some high‑profile cases featured perpetrators of Pakistani background. Oswalt said he wasn’t familiar with the issue; right‑leaning outlets reported he mentioned reading the Guardian.
The pair also debated Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez’s national appeal. Maher said she could be a “fantastic candidate” for president “with some deprogramming,” arguing she is too far left for most voters. That exchange, along with the broader dispute over whether Democrats have “gone too far,” was highlighted by multiple outlets after the episode posted Monday.
