“Real Time” host Bill Maher on Friday endorsed disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s mayoral race and excused his past sexual misconduct allegations, while slamming progressive opponent Zohran Mamdani as a danger for the Democratic Party.
“I think he seems like a sweet guy, Mamdani,” Maher said to laughter from the crowd. “But I would just like to say, because the election is in a couple of weeks, this is not just New York that’s on the ballot. I think the whole Democratic Party in the country is on the ballot.”
“And the whole country will be looking at this race to see which way are the Democrats going to go,” he continued. “No, Andrew Cuomo may not be that exciting and that inspirational, but for a party that said, ‘We want to get back to normal,’ he’s kind of normal.”
Maher’s guest Kate Bedingfield, who served as the White House communications director under former President Joe Biden, appeared surprised by that assessment. She disagreed, noting “some things” in Cuomo’s history actually aren’t normal at all.
An investigation from the Department of Justice released in 2024 concluded the former New York governor’s “sexually hostile work environment” affected at least 13 female state employees, one of whom said Cuomo grabbed her buttocks and put his hand up her shirt.
