Bill Maher Issues Blunt Comparison of Democratic Party to ‘Ghost Brands’ Like Sears
What To Know
- Bill Maher compared the Democratic Party to “ghost brands” like Sears, Playboy, and Barney’s.
- He highlighted the party’s decline in influence and popularity, noting its lowest favorability rating in 35 years despite past dominance in Congress and the Supreme Court.
- Maher urged Democrats to revitalize their relevance, emphasizing the importance of having two strong political parties in America.
Bill Maher recently issued a blunt comparison of the Democratic Party to “ghost brands” like Sears, Playboy, and Barney’s.
On the Friday, October 31 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, the late-night host, 69, called out Democrats with a bold analogy during his “New Rule” segment.
“The cautionary tale of the ghost brand is an important one because it applies not only to business but also to politics. I fear the Democratic Party is at risk of becoming a ghost brand too,” he said. “Like Sears, it used to be mighty and ascendant and popular.”
Maher explained that “ghost brand” is a “company or a store that, like Sears, still exists, but only as a pathetic shell of its former self. The brands that make you say, ‘Oh, they’re still making that.’ Because they screwed themselves out of relevance and now their logos haunt us, wandering, neither alive nor dead like Mitch McConnell.”
At one point, Sears made up 1% of the U.S. economy and 41% of the nation’s appliance market, he pointed out. The business now only has a handful of stores still open—and Maher likened Sears’ fate to that of the Democratic Party.
“Democrats once controlled Congress and the Supreme Court, or at least competitively,” he said. “But now, even at a time when President [Donald] Trump is turning 250 years of democracy into jean shorts, the Democrats have their lowest rating in 35 years — 63% unfavorable,” he noted.
“What happened? I don’t know. What happened to Sears?” Maher wondered aloud. “It used to be synonymous with the American dream because it kept faith with what the customer wanted. Did we love Sears? No. But that was beside the point. You just went.”
Additionally, Maher compared Democrats to other ghost brands, like Playboy and the fashion brand Barney’s.
“I’m not making this up just because it’s Halloween, but after Barney’s closed for good in 2020, it became, yes, a Spirit Halloween,” he shared. “I’m just saying Democrats need to get their s*** together because America needs two political parties, not one party and one Halloween store.”
Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays, 10/9c, HBO
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