Don Lemon Proposes New Democratic Party Leader: ‘People Love AOC!’

During his appearance on Club Random With Bill Maher Sunday night, Don Lemon expressed the bind-boggling opinion that, following their defeat in the past election, what the Democratic Party needed by way of a little rejuvenation was Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY). Lemon claimed that people “love AOC,” and even went so far as to claim she would be a hit for the same reasons as President Trump. Eventually, Maher stepped in and brought him down to earth a bit.

After a lengthy and non-G-rated conversation on various subjects, Lemon offered his view on the Democratic leadership vacuum:

I love Nancy Pelosi… But I think that era of the Nancy Pelosi type… is over. I think that this is the era of… [a]nd I’m… not necessarily in love with their policies, but people love AOC… And I think that the Democratic Party should put the people out there who the people want… who they’re asking for, who are meeting the moment with the same energy that-

Maher interrupted to sour Lemon’s optimism about AOC’s prospects as the Democratic Party’s leader:

MAHER: They’re not asking for AOC.

LEMON: Yes, they are.

MAHER: The people you party with are.

LEMON: No, no, no. The people I party with don’t like AOC.

MAHER: Oh, please

LEMON: No, they don’t.  At all.

MAHER: Well, most people don’t.

LEMON: But AOC-

MAHER: Because she’s very far-left-

Lemon stuck to his story, though, and even asserted, “people will vote for AOC and Donald Trump on the same ticket. Because they’re authentic.” To that, Maher just laughed outright. “No,” Lemon persisted, “because they’re authentic.”

Maher then voiced his thoughts on just how “authentic” AOC’s whole persona actually was, saying that “being a gorgeous woman who I wouldn’t even know was Hispanic, in a city that… has a million Hispanics… and does not treat them badly,” did not mean that “in some way she’s behind the eight-ball… it’s just not true.”

When Lemon vaguely responded that he still didn’t “think she’s as privileged as many people who are in Congress right now,” Maher questioned what that was even supposed to mean, saying “She was a bartender… [S]o, I was a delivery boy.” 

Rather than dropping it, Lemon then went so far as to call the extreme-left Congresswoman a “Democratic icon,” to which Maher sneered, “Well, she’s the wrong- if you think that’s the direction that the country should- the Democratic Party.”

Lemon cut in, and claimed he was not talking about her actual policies, but insisted that the loudest voice had to be given to “the people who are out front speaking for the party,” which, apparently in his mind meant her. 

If in fact Lemon was right in his assessment that such a left-wing fringe figure, and one with such a track record just of saying patently ridiculous things, would be ideal as a new leader for one of America’s major political parties, that would have been a very alarming reality for a great many people. 

Maher, though, was eventually satisfied with Lemon’s insistence that she’s “evolving” and “understands the game a little bit more,” than she used to, and even, incredible as it may have sounded, “is very, very smart.”

To view the full transcript, click “expand” to read:

Club Random With Bill Maher
03/16/2025
10:39 PM

(…)

DON LEMON: I love Nancy Pelosi. I think she’s a very smart woman. But I think that era of the Nancy Pelosi type in the Democratic Party is over. 

I think that this is the era of, whether- and I- I didn’t like her policies at first. And I’m not- not necessarily in love with their policies, but people love AOC. People love Jasmine Crockett. People love Eric Swalwell, and the like.

And I think that the Democratic Party should put the people out there who the people want. They should put the- the politicians out there who the people want, who they’re asking for, who are meeting the moment with the same energy that-

BILL MAHER: They’re not asking for AOC.

LEMON: Yes, they are.

MAHER: The people you party with are. 

LEMON: No, no, no. The people I party with don’t like AOC.

MAHER: Oh, please.

LEMON: No, they don’t.  At all. 

MAHER: Well, most people don’t.

LEMON: But AOC-

MAHER: Because she’s very far-left-

LEMON: But let me tell you why I’m saying that: Because AOC- the same- because people will vote for AOC and Donald Trump on the same ticket. Because they’re authentic.

MAHER: [LAUGHS]

LEMON: No, because they’re authentic.

MAHER: I don’t think- I- that- Don- 

LEMON: I think you’re wrong about that. 

MAHER: What people like about people like Trump and Federman is they’re-

LEMON: What about that’s phony?

MAHER: Because it’s irrelevant to her life-

LEMON: But you don’t know her life-

MAHER: I know that being a gorgeous woman who I wouldn’t even know was Hispanic, in a city that’s largely- has a million Hispanics- and is- and does not treat them badly, doesn’t mean-

LEMON: But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t struggle- that doesn’t mean that she was set down in a-

MAHER: It kind of- it implies it.

LEMON: But that doesn’t mean that she was set down in [sic] Hispanic ghetto in the Bronx and, and had to deal with that growing up, and that she comes from a working class family-

MAHER: It implies that for some- it implies that in some way she’s behind the eight-ball, because of that, and it’s just not true. And so, I don’t-

LEMON: I don’t know if she’s behind the eight-ball, but I don’t think she’s as privileged as many people who are in Congress right now-

MAHER: Am I privileged, or not? She was a bartender-

LEMON: Yeah-

MAHER: -You know, so, I was a delivery boy.

LEMON: So look, I don’t agree with her policies, but I’m saying, sometimes- like- I just- Bill, like you don’t agree with Donald Trump’s policies?

MAHER: No, most of them-

LEMON: But that’s what the people want. 

MAHER: Some of them. 

LEMON: Whether you like her or not- I don’t like what she did with Amazon in New York- but I think AOC is an- she’s a democratic icon.

MAHER: Well, she’s the wrong-  if you think that’s the direction that the country should- the Democratic party-

LEMON: I’m not saying the policies that she espouses, that’s [sic] the direction, but I’m saying that you have to give the people who are- the people who are out front speaking for the party, not the people who are-

MAHER: If you think-

LEMON: She’s evolving?

MAHER: Yeah, she’s evolving-

LEMON: And she’s-

MAHER: -as we all are

LEMON: -And she is moving into-

MAHER: Right.

LEMON: She understands the game a little bit more and if you notice, she is sort of, becoming a sort of, normal kind of Democrat in many ways. 

MAHER: Yeah, that’s great-

LEMON: I think that’s a very smart tactic. She’s very smart.

MAHER: Let’s get behind that.

(…)