Comedian Bill Maher lambasted American liberals who cut off family members who voted for President Donald Trump in the final episode of his HBO show before Thanksgiving.
Maher addressed a “no-contact” culture seemingly more prevalent on the left head-on during Friday’s “Real Time” closing monologue. He began the segment stating it’s “a real shame what’s happened” to Thanksgiving, observing how the holiday, “which used to be all about the good F’s: food, friends, family, football, fun,” now seemingly only signifies “fuck you.”
“You’re not even invited because you voted for the wrong person,” Maher said, reiterating a sentiment he explained seemingly became more common among Trump critics.
“I’m so tired of liberals ghosting half this country. Conservatives do it too, but not nearly as much,” the comedian stressed. “Look, whoever’s doing it, it’s got to stop, because we’re at a point now where politics has broken up more families than letting your wife see your phone.” (RELATED: Bill Maher Spars With Actor Over Whether ‘Democrats Have Gone Too Far Left’)
Trump won the popular vote in the 2024 election with over 77 million votes, achieving a margin of victory of about 2.3 million.
Maher is widely considered to be liberal-leaning, having stated he “generally” votes for Democrats, including failed 2025 presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
WATCH:
Ultimatums don’t make people rethink their politics; they make them rethink you. pic.twitter.com/i6Y5qfUyOe
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) November 22, 2025
He then observed how two distinct camps emerged among liberals, the “we-need-to-keep-talking-to-people wing” and “the-go-no-contact wing.”
“Go no-contact, this belief that Trump voters, even if it’s your own parents, are too deplorable for human contact and must be cut off,” Maher explained.
He then referred to a July 13 op-ed by David Litt, who had served as a speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, titled, “Is It Time to Stop Snubbing Your Right-Wing Family?” In the op-ed, Litt came to the conclusion that liberals cutting off conservative family members is “ineffective,” “counterproductive,” and “might just hurt the ostracizer more than the ostracizee.”
“So, of course, then the ‘woke’ wing tried to banish him for breaking ranks on their policy of hating people who don’t agree with you on everything, because what fun is life if you’re not cutting somebody off,” Maher humorously pointed out, referring to an article published five days later by New York Magazine’s Intelligencer blog in response to Litt’s op-ed.
In the article titled, “It’s Okay to Go No Contact With Your MAGA Relatives,” Intelligencer senior writer Sarah Jones states, “Politics never stopped at the family front door. Why pretend otherwise?”
Jones, in the piece, mentioned a viral June X post by a woman whose son, she claims, cut off contact with her and her husband due to their voting for Trump in November 2024.
“MAGA parents read it and saw their own snowflakes, who are triggered so easily. Others saw a narcissist who could not accept the consequences of her actions,” Jones wrote, referencing the mother’s post.
Maher, during his monologue, also brought up the example of Molly McNearney, the wife of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel as well as the executive producer and co-head writer of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” In early November, she admitted to cutting off some of her family members who voted for Trump. (RELATED: Jimmy Kimmel Reveals He Told His Son Trump Got Him Suspended From Show)
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MAY 20: (L-R) Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney speak onstage at The Alliance For Women In Media Foundation’s 50th Annual Gracie Awards Gala at Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel on May 20, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
“She says she’s lost relationships with relatives because she wrote them an email before the election with 10 reasons why they shouldn’t vote for Trump, and some still didn’t obey,” Maher said. “I can think of 100 but I would never present it to someone as an ultimatum.”
“Ultimatums don’t make people rethink their politics. They make them rethink you,” the HBO host emphasized.
“You know, it would have been a better exercise to write a top-10 list to yourself where you try to imagine 10 reasons why 77 million Americans didn’t want to trust you with taking power, and I say that as someone who votes Democratic. As I like to remind my very pure friends, we voted for the same person,” Maher continued, referring to Harris. “You’re just why she lost.”
“Can we please try to remember, especially at this time of year, that most people don’t decide their politics. They inherit them. It’s about where you grew up in America, what your parents taught you, your life experiences, your religion, he added.
Maher went on to call “ghosting” family members because they supported the opposing presidential candidate “so childish, so purely emotional.”
“We can do this, people, it’s Thanksgiving,” he said concluding the segment. “Do yourself a favor. Get over yourself and go have it with your family.”
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