During a recent panel discussion on Real Time with Bill Maher, the host raised what he called a significant political shift, noting that several of former President Donald Trump’s most prominent supporters appeared to be distancing themselves from him.
Maher brought up the topic while speaking with panelists Chris Cuomo and author Sarah Isgar, steering the conversation away from a political debate to flag what he saw as a notable development.
“But all his original fans are turning on him. Have you seen that?” Maher said. “I mean this week Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson both renounced the leader, as has Candace Owens. Alex Jones, all the people.”
Isgar responded dryly: “All people I look to for advice.”
Rather than treating the development as a serious political signal, both Cuomo and Isgar reacted with a mix of amusement and skepticism.
“I know. It’s like, look, I respect how seriously you’re laying this out. I do. I do,” Cuomo said. “But just think about what it says about where we are, that we are in a place where we are looking at Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan as bellwethers of our political status.”
He said, “You know, like, wow, Rogan, what am I going to do now that he’s not with Trump? It’s like we are in mouth breather land in terms of how we formulate our positions. It’s like, oh, Tucker Carlson, he got attacked by a demon last week in his bedroom, but now he’s seen the light about Trump. I don’t know how to feel. You know, it’s a weird place. We’re in a weird place.”
Cuomo agreed with the general assessment that Trump could face a loyalty problem among his base, though he pointed to what he considered a specific factor in Rogan’s case. “Trump’s going to have a problem. He’s going to have a problem keeping the faithful in there. He’s got Joe Rogan, you know, the psychedelics, you know. Thank God he had that. Otherwise, he would have lost him completely.”
Maher then drew a distinction between the figures being discussed. “Well, I think there’s between Joe Rogan and Candace Owens and Alex Jones. I do. I think there’s a bit of a difference.”
Sarah simply replied: “I hope so.”
