On Friday's Real Time show on HBO, liberal host Bill Maher and actor Jim Carrey celebrated recent Democratic candidates running on far-left platforms and identifying themselves as "socialists," leading Carrey to proclaim: "We have to say yes to socialism -- to the word and everything. We have to stop apologizing."
As Maher turned the discussion to the midterm elections and the successful primary campaigns of candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the liberal comedian rejoiced that Democrats are moving to the far left on issues:
And they did it with unabashed liberal proposals -- Medicare for all, ending student debt, a different approach to the war on terror, ending mass incarceration. It seems like if there is a -- maybe shining spot in this Trump tragedy, it's that it's made the Democrats sort of rediscover who they are.
A bit later, he lamented that Democrats have not not done a good enough job of countering Republicans complaining that they are running on a "socialist" platform.
Carrey soon referred to his childhood in Canada and spoke in favor of socialism:
I grew up in Canada, okay, we have socialized medicine. And I'm here to tell you that this bullshit line that you get on all of the political shows from people is that it's a failure - the system is a failure in Canada. It is not a failure, and I never waited for anything in my life. I chose my own doctors. My mother never paid for a prescription -- it was fantastic.
And I just got back from Vancouver, and I keep hearing, "Canadians are so nice -- Canadians are so nice." They can be nice because they have health care -- because they have a government that cares about them that doesn't say, "Sink or f---ing swim, pal, or you live in a box." There are certain people in our society that need to be taken care of.
Maher soon added: "I've always said the United States has been quasi-socialist for a hundred years, for crying out loud."
As the HBO host again complained that Democrats do not have a message to defend themselves over being called "socialists," Carrey jumped in to fully advocate for Democrats running openly as socialists. Carrey: "We have to say yes to socialism -- to the word and everything. We have to stop apologizing."
The only Republican on the panel was CNN contributor and former liberal Republican Congressman Charlie Dent, who did nothing to push back against all the left-wing commentary of his fellow panelists.
