Bill Maher blasts California's education results, cites two surging red states
Bill Maher used Friday's "Real Time with Bill Maher" to criticize California Democrats over education and green energy, arguing that Mississippi and Texas are outperforming the deep-blue state on issues Democrats often campaign on.
"Democrats, these are your issues: education, race, the environment," Maher said. "And I say this with love: you’re losing to the Waffle House, car-on-the-lawn states."
Maher said California’s school outcomes were especially difficult to defend when compared with Mississippi, citing fourth-grade results for Black students.
"Did you know that a Black fourth grader in Mississippi is two and a half times as likely to be proficient in math and reading as one in California?" Maher said. "Mississippi is kicking our a-- in education and for way less money. We’re 37th in fourth-grade reading. They’re ninth."
Maher was citing a Feb. 9, 2026 New York Times article which stated, "For anyone familiar with civil rights history, national testing results are astonishing. A Black Mississippi child is two and a half times as likely to be proficient in reading by fourth grade as a Black California child."
The 2024 National Assessment of Educational Programs snapshots show Black fourth-graders in Mississippi at 19% proficient and 2% advanced in reading, compared with 7% proficient and 1% advanced in California.
In fourth-grade math, Mississippi's Black students were listed at 22% proficient and 2% advanced, compared with 10% proficient and 1% advanced in California.
"Texas has passed California in solar and blows away California when it comes to wind and energy storage," Maher said. "How does a state with no pro-climate policies produce better climate results than a state where here, even though we have so much better bumper stickers on our Priuses?"
Energy Information Administration data cited by Inside Climate News showed Texas produced 58,634 gigawatt-hours from utility-scale solar in 2025, compared with California’s 53,713 gigawatt-hours. The outlet reported Texas passed California in installed utility-scale solar capacity in 2024, though California remained ahead when small-scale solar was included.
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Maher blamed the differences on permitting, building policy and bureaucracy.
"I’ll tell you why," Maher said. "Because you’re allowed to build there. Because every third person in Texas isn’t someone whose job it is to make sure nothing gets done."
Maher began the segment by pointing to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a Democrat running for governor. A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released Friday showed Mahan at 4%, while former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton and billionaire Tom Steyer lead the field.
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"That would be the unions, the bureaucrats, the lawyers, the consultants, the regulators and all the special interest friends who make living in this state such a frustrating, maddening experience," Maher said. "It’s why the railroads don’t get built, the potholes don’t get filled, the homeless don’t get housed, the kids don’t learn."
Maher also called out Republicans. He singled out Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. Maher chided, "Recently, the press has gotten very excited about some Republican senators who've had just about enough of Trump's shenanigans. Yeah, ‘cuz they're retiring." Tillis is retiring. Cassidy was recently beat in a primary.
Maher also mentioned Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has been critical of President Donald Trump. The HBO host joked, "I just wish he talked that way when he was alive."
Fox News Digital reached out to Governor Gavin Newsom for comment but did not immediately hear back.