When Bill Maher starts sounding like a campaign volunteer for a conservative outsider, you know something unusual is happening.
That’s exactly what unfolded during a surprisingly friendly episode of “Club Random,” where the famously contrarian comic practically rolled out the red carpet for Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt.
What was supposed to be an interview quickly turned into something closer to a political therapy session for frustrated Angelenos tired of watching one of America’s richest cities struggle with homelessness, public safety concerns, failing infrastructure and a school system that never seems to improve despite endless spending.
Maher, who has spent years criticizing progressive excesses while still wearing the liberal label, zeroed in on one issue that drives taxpayers crazy: education.
“But, you know, the numbers are not good. Facts don’t lie. We spend a lot more trying to educate a kid in this state and do worse than places that spend way less. And part of that is because the teachers’ union is so strong. Are you– there’s a great question for you, Mr. Candidate. Are you strong enough to buck the unions?” Maher asked.
That opened the door for Pratt to launch into a blistering critique of union leadership and what he described as a disconnect between rank-and-file workers and the political power brokers speaking in their name. “This is the biggest thing that I go against because you know my opponent, Mayor Karen Bass, says every single union endorses her, and they go ‘How you going to win with the unions?'” Pratt said.
He argued that ordinary union members frequently support his message, while leadership remains tied to City Hall’s political machinery. “Every person that comes in them up to me in the streets, they’re connected to some union, and they say, ‘We all love you.’ But it’s the leadership, political powers,” Pratt continued.
The candidate went on to claim that union officials, police brass, fire department leadership and other institutional power centers increasingly operate like political insiders rather than representatives of everyday workers. “The union leadership never reflects actually what the people who have kids and the community, they don’t connect,” Pratt said.
His broader argument was that city government has become dominated by insiders making deals far removed from the concerns of taxpayers, parents and neighborhood residents. “We need the people that are actually the ones on the ground level to get their say,” Pratt argued, adding that he wants to ensure union members—not just union executives—have a stronger voice in city affairs.
“So, as mayor, I’m not anti-union, but I’m going to make sure the union leadership actually connects to the people that are in the unions, not this, you know, we’re just being scammed.”
That was apparently enough to send Maher into full-blown admiration mode. “You had me at hello,” Maher replied with a grin.
Then came the moment that likely left Los Angeles’ political establishment choking on its oat milk lattes. “I’m just saying on this, I mean on so many of these things, and you just have the exact right– I didn’t know until I talked to you, honestly, today– but you have the exact right impatience with this sh*t,” Maher told Pratt. “It’s very authentic, your impatience with it. And, you know, you’re just– it’s good. Just keep doing what you’re doing, we’ll see where the chips fall.”
Maher may not be officially endorsing Pratt, but he certainly sounded impressed.
Pratt’s outsider campaign has gained attention by hammering city leadership over homelessness, public safety concerns, declining quality of life and fallout from the devastating Palisades wildfire that destroyed his own home. Meanwhile, Mayor Karen Bass has faced mounting criticism over wildfire response, city management and voter frustration with the direction of Los Angeles. Recent polling has suggested Pratt has emerged as a serious contender rather than a celebrity sideshow.
For years, voters were told there was no alternative to the same collection of consultants, union bosses, activists and career politicians running the show. Yet here was Bill Maher—hardly a MAGA firebrand—sounding genuinely energized by a candidate whose central message boils down to a simple idea: The people running Los Angeles have had their chance.
And plenty of voters are starting to think the results speak for themselves.
(Club Random Podcast)
