Bill Maher may as well have just endorsed Los Angeles mayoral hopeful and MAGA candidate Spencer Pratt.
Pratt appeared on Maher’s podcast, Club Random, for an extended interview the day before the mayoral primary race was set to take place. While Maher, 70, pushed back against some of the 42-year-old candidate’s philosophies, he appeared to align himself with Pratt overall.
“I mean, you are on people’s minds out here. Nobody can take that away from you. That is just a fact,” the television veteran and political pundit told Pratt at the beginning of the interview.
By the end of their hour-long conversation, however, Maher said, “You had me at hello.”
“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 s--t, it’s very authentic,” Maher told Pratt.
“It’s good,” he continued. “Just keep doing what you’re doing, and we’ll see where the chips fall.
Maher did warn Pratt that he made his campaign too “personal.” The former reality TV star entered the mayoral race after his house was burned down in the wildfire that engulfed large portions of Los Angeles in 2025. Losing his home became the catalyst for his campaign.
Pratt was particularly incensed with the role that incumbent Karen Bass played, frequently stating that the mayor didn’t do enough in the aftermath of the fires.
Maher agreed with Pratt on some level, but also said that Bass, a prominent Democrat and long-time politician, is not the only one to blame. “I mean, she is not a great mayor. I like her, but you know, she f---ed up some things. A lot of people f---ed up some things. One person didn’t burn your house down," he told the candidate.
He also joked later in the episode, “I’m going to f---ing burn down your next one if you don’t shut up about the f---ing house.”
In spite of this, Pratt and Maher appeared to align on several subjects. The host also said on Friday’s Real Time with Bill Maher that Pratt is “a nice guy” and “charming.”
Added Maher, “I know I’m supposed to hate him. I don’t.”
“You’re a guy who knows his priorities, you know, in a general sense. I don’t think you’re wrong. And again, lots of people agree,” Maher said to Pratt about his vision for California, where he’s lived since 1983.
Pratt has garnered praise from unlikely places, even claiming that A-listers like Leonardo DiCaprio are secretly backing him. The Republican candidate has come onto President Donald Trump’s radar, who told reporters that he wishes Pratt well. However, several others, including Jimmy Kimmel, Price is Right host Drew Carey, and soap star Lisa Rinna have pushed back against the MAGA star.
Pratt’s place in the mayoral race has been contentious. The TV villain has courted controversy for years, and although he has emerged as a true contender for mayor, his campaign has been punctuated with conspiracy theories and outlandish remarks.
As he did in his Vanity Fair profile, Pratt seemed assured that he would win the position. “I’m going to be the mayor in seven days,” he told Maher, suggesting he will win more than 50 percent of the vote and avoid a November runoff. Maher, in turn, did not disagree.
“I promise you I’m the one,” Pratt said.
“OK, OK. And I hope you are,” replied Maher.
