Comedian Bill Maher shook hands with Democratic National Committee (DNC) vice chair David Hogg on Friday, after the operative delivered his take on why the Democratic Party lost a chunk of young voters in the 2024 presidential election.
“What I think happened last election is younger men, they would rather vote for somebody … who they don’t completely agree with — [that] they don’t feel judged by — than somebody who they do agree with that they feel like they have to walk on eggshells around constantly because they’re going to be judged or ostracized or excommunicated,” Hogg said Friday during an appearance on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
The fiery Democrat, who has spearheaded calls for generational change within the party, argued that the two major parties have swapped in terms of tolerance, which he says has contributed to the left losing young voters.
“Republicans used to be the judgmental a–holes in many ways,” Hogg continued. “And since many Democrats — despite us, I would say, for most of us [are] coming from the right place of wanting to do the right thing — we’ve created a culture where we say, well, if you say the wrong thing, you’re excommunicated.”
“That’s just not how human beings work. Nobody’s perfect,” he added.
Hogg, who was elected as vice chair of the DNC in early February, said last month that his group, Leaders We Deserve, will roll out a $20 million to challenge House Democrats in safe seats as part of a push to bring in new leaders to the coalition.
“We’re not only focused on targeting Democratic incumbents when necessary,” he told The Hill at the time. “We are here to elect young people who are running in open seats. We’re here to elect young people that are running open, competitive seats as well, and support them when they align with our values.”
Maher on Friday challenged the young Democrat on how much influence President Trump had on losing those voters, pointing to the Trump campaign’s argument that Vice President Harris cared more about “woke stuff” than the electorate.
“I mean, if you go and look why they didn’t vote for them, it was more of the woke stuff, wasn’t it? Isn’t that the strategy that Trump employed? Like, she’s for they, them, and he’s for you. That was the big ad that worked,” he said, according to a clip shared by Mediaite.
Hogg brushed off the sentiment, claiming, “Ultimately, unlike Republicans, Democrats have the hard job of making government work.”
He later outlined what he sees as a pathway for Democrats to retain and bring in more young voters into their movement.
“What we have to do here is figure out how to bring people back in and work towards the bigger goal of advancing the future of this country and helping young people, especially get by so that they’re able to focus on their lives and you know, getting with a young woman or something like that instead of how are they going to pay their rent, for example, or how are they working their two jobs,” he said.
“Young people should be able to focus on what young people should be focused on, which is how to get laid and how to go and have fun,” Hogg added.
The Democrat first came into the spotlight as a survivor of the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla. He has since been a vocal advocate for gun reform.
