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The silence that followed was telling. Schiff watched his argument collapse in real time, scrambling for a lifeline. He pivoted to Syria and Assad, a completely different situation, desperately searching for footing that didn’t exist.
The quote in question dated back to April 2011, when President Obama sent U.S. forces into Libya for seven months without a single vote from Congress. Schiff never once called for a War Powers vote during that conflict. The same senator now warning against Trump “abusing his power” had given a green light to the exact same reasoning under a Democrat.
Don Lemon’s Wealth Tax Misunderstanding
The segment’s next trap involved California’s proposed billionaire tax. Maher explained the basic economic problem: implementing a 5% wealth tax at the state level drives billionaires out of the state.
Don Lemon’s response suggested he had never considered this at all. Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom — a liberal icon — is opposing the tax because he knows the consequences. Newsom told reporters last month he would do “what I have to do to protect the state” and predicted the tax would fail.
Yet Schiff, sitting right next to Maher, expressed support for the tax anyway. Watching a comedian break down basic economics to a U.S. senator and a prime-time television host made it clear something has gone catastrophically wrong for Democrats.
The Eye-Roll That Defines 2026
The final moment of the night may have been the most revealing. Schiff insisted Democrats must keep hammering Trump, as if that were the party’s sole platform. Maher’s response was blunt: voters see this repetitive strategy and react with an eye-roll.
He’s right. Trump has won two presidential elections and shaped American politics for over a decade. Meanwhile, liberal operatives like James Carville openly admit they have Trump Derangement Syndrome and want it to “get worse.” That is not a strategy for winning elections — it’s a confession of irrelevance.
Democrats are heading into November with no clear economic plan, no coherent foreign policy, and no explanation for why the rules suddenly changed when a Republican took office. Bill Maher, a dyed-in-the-wool liberal who even defended the Iran operation, could see the problem. Schiff and his guests could not.
This is the political reality for Democrats: blind spots, double standards, and a messaging strategy that risks turning their party into a punchline — just in time for the midterms.
