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During a series of recent interviews to promote his new book, Bill Maher unwittingly showed just how ignorant and emotional the left has become. On a recent episode of Megyn Kelly’s podcast, at least he was honest.

It was clear from the beginning that Maher assumed Kelly was a thoughtless bimbo from Fox News and believed he could make his claims without any pushback. In his usual smug manner, he insisted Trump was a tyrant who would destroy American democracy, the J6 protesters were dangerous insurrectionists, the crisis at the border was just as bad under Trump as it is under Biden, Hillary Clinton never claimed Trump was an illegitimate president, and no one cared about the Hunter Biden laptop.

Far from “pouncing” on Maher on these points, Kelly reluctantly but reasonably corrected him on each of them: Trump was already president for four years and dutifully left office after (unfairly) losing the 2020 election; the J6 protesters were nowhere close to bringing down the American government; the border is far worse under Biden, who purposefully refuses to fix it; Hillary Clinton has continually declared Trump an illegitimate president for years; and a great number of Americans would have changed their vote if they knew Biden’s son was influence-peddling for this father. To these rebuttals, Maher only rolled his eyes and pretended to pity Kelly for her apparent stupidity. Normally, he would probably mock and insult her as he does on his own talk show, but he has a book to sell. 

Although Kelly was gracious enough to allow Maher to agree to disagree, no one else should give him a pass. As Scott Adams commented on X, “[Maher’s] job is talking about politics. He’s one of the smartest Democrats, and probably interested in the truth.” It’s one thing for a typical partisan hack to spread these falsehoods, but it’s another thing for a free-thinking, “old-school liberal” like Maher to do so. Not only should he know better, but he is one of the few public figures trusted with transcending politics and seeking the truth.

Except that he doesn’t know better, and he doesn’t really care about the truth. As I argued two years ago, Maher is a leftist who has been making fun of conservatives for decades. At no point has he ever been interested in having a serious discussion with any of them. Moreover, long before Jon Stewart popularized the idea of the pundit-comedian, Maher pioneered this genre with his ’90s talk show “Politically Incorrect.” Similar to how Maher “debated” with Megyn Kelly, he would do the same with a group of guests on his show — but he would usually have the last laugh.

At most, Maher can be credited for his media savvy. Earlier this month, conservative writer and commentator Jason Whitlock said as much: “[Maher’s] not a common-sense leftist. There is no such thing. It’s the equivalent of calling me a low-calorie obese person. It’s not true. Maher is a common-sense businessman.” All of it is a facade and always has been.

For that reason, conservatives should stop seeking common ground with people like Maher and instead note the stark differences.

It’s clear that Maher is profoundly misinformed on basic issues. He’s not just ignorant of today’s political and cultural situation; he believes the very opposite of what is true. He consumes tons of left-wing propaganda and never bothers to question any of it. Instead, he questions the conservatives who are willing to think critically about these narratives and arguments. 

Rhetorically speaking, this works to his advantage because it places the burden on conservatives to summon all the relevant facts, debunk the lies, and educate Maher on what’s really happening. Unless his interlocutor is a hyper-informed lawyer with a steel backbone like Megyn Kelly, Maher can get away with his version of things and look clever. 

It’s important to realize that this is how most leftists operate. Like Maher, they are midwits with massive egos because they have college degrees, read the occasional New York Times article, and listen to NPR. Like Maher, they will parrot the lies and only doubt the doubters. Like Maher, they give themselves infinite pats on the back for their willingness to debate and nominally tolerate the other side. Like Maher, they’re often laden with unearned praise for doing the bare minimum and arriving at the truth 10 years after the fact.

And, like Maher, they are utterly deluded. Their whole perception of reality is warped to such an extent that they can no longer have an honest debate or discussion. They can be confronted with direct evidence to the contrary, like Maher was when Kelly played a clip of Hillary Clinton saying Trump’s win was illegitimate, and continue believing the lies they’ve been told.

That said, it’s part of Megyn Kelly’s job to suffer fools, so it’s no real loss for her to deal with jesters like Maher. However, the rest of us can learn from her and be more effective in our debates with the leftists in our own lives. They’re not nearly as smart as they think, and they (and their sources) are guided more by vanity than anything else. That means debates with them are only won if they are proven wrong and humiliated.

To succeed at this, we should always seek out the truth and show a willingness to push back and call leftists’ bluff. Even if it feels unkind, we should never forget that the left started this, and they won’t stop until they learn the hard way, like Bill Maher.

Auguste Meyrat is an English teacher in the Dallas area. He holds an MA in humanities and an MEd in educational leadership. He is the senior editor of The Everyman and has written essays for The Federalist, The American Conservative, and The Imaginative Conservative, as well as the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. Follow him on Twitter.