AllSides Moves Bill Maher Bias Rating from Center to Lean Left

After the recent release of the AllSides X Influencer Bias Chart, we received overwhelming feedback from followers on X and Instagram who disagreed with our rating of Bill Maher as Center. This feedback triggered an additional Small Group Editorial Review of Maher; our panelists ultimately opted to move Maher from Center to Lean Left.

AllSides’ initial rating of Maher was based largely on his critiques of the Democratic Party, which can certainly appear Center in the current cultural landscape. All of our panelists — three reviewers on the left, center, and right — initially rated Maher Center (with “low confidence”). We found that Maher:

• Strongly opposes “woke” culture on the left.
   
• Spoke of the "danger of the super far right," saying, "I can't say it enough, I think they're the bigger threat [than the woke left]."
   
• Affirmed he is a “free speech absolutist.”
   
• Is critical of liberal immigration policies, saying it is “not racist” to want tighter immigration control and saying Democrat policies increase crime and embolden “far right” parties to gain political power.
   
• Said Sweden's liberal immigration policy has increased crime and emboldened "far right parties" to gain power; said, "It's not a coincidence the quality of life went down after the Somali gangs started a drug turf war using hand grenades. Calling it racist doesn't solve the problem, it hands future elections to someone who will solve the problem, and who, I promise, you are not going to like."
   
• Spoke against Republican policies to restrict abortion; said Republicans are now the party that is “not pro-democracy and not pro-choice…and America is pro-democracy and it is pro-choice." He criticized bans on abortion after 6 weeks because it is "before women know they're pregnant."

Our panel considered not just what Maher believes, but how he positions himself in today’s polarized climate. Maher’s critiques of both the modern left and right — and shifting alignment in a changing political landscape — led to a Center rating in April. 

However, after overwhelming feedback, we conducted a second Small Group Editorial Review in May, in which we reconsidered Maher’s stances and ultimately shifted his rating to Lean Left.

The Lean Right reviewer said, “It's clear people see him as Lean Left and he is always going to bat for Democrats. His commentary is typically criticizing Democrats only insofar as he wants them to win, thinks they are doing a bad job, and emboldening what he calls ‘the far right.’” 

The Center reviewer noted that although Maher criticizes the Democratic Party, he’s "extremely partisan” in his support for the left.

The Lean Left reviewer added, "Maher often brings up his feeling that the Democratic Party's dominant rhetorical choices (and to some extent its platform) have decreased in quality in recent years, but the ideas he expresses still overlap much more with those of a typical Democrat than a typical Republican."

People — and Bias Ratings — Are Complex 

Amid the major political realignment seen in recent years, it’s not unreasonable to see someone like Maher as either Center (relative to his criticism of the Democratic establishment and its immigration policies) or Lean Left (when taking into account his views on things like abortion and free speech). 

If you put more weight on Maher’s Democratic-establishment-critique, he might appear Center; if you factor in his desire for the left to win and his socially liberal views, he might appear more Lean Left. Bias ratings are very subjective, and often relative. Our panelists ultimately settled on Lean Left after conducting two bias reviews.

AllSides ratings don’t reflect the opinion of one editor or an algorithm — they reflect the average view of people across the spectrum, who don’t always agree. And because political bias is subjective, we don’t call our ratings accurate — but we do believe they’re trustworthy, because not only do we have people across the political spectrum weighing in, but we listen closely to your feedback, which can help trigger a deeper review of any rating.

No influencer fits neatly into a box, and our 5-category bias scale is inherently limited. Vote on any rating to share your preferred rating for an influencer.