<\/p>\n
Bill Maher<\/a> recently issued a blunt comparison of the Democratic Party to \u201cghost brands\u201d like Sears, Playboy, and Barney\u2019s.<\/p>\n On the Friday, October 31 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher<\/a><\/em>, the late-night host, 69, called out Democrats with a bold analogy during his \u201cNew Rule\u201d segment<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cautionary tale of the ghost brand is an important one because it applies not only to business but also to politics. I fear the Democratic Party is at risk of becoming a ghost brand too,\u201d he said. \u201cLike Sears, it used to be mighty and ascendant and popular.\u201d<\/p>\n Maher explained that \u201cghost brand\u201d is a \u201ccompany or a store that, like Sears, still exists, but only as a pathetic shell of its former self. The brands that make you say, \u2018Oh, they\u2019re still making that.\u2019 Because they screwed themselves out of relevance and now their logos haunt us, wandering, neither alive nor dead like Mitch McConnell<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n At one point, Sears made up 1% of the U.S. economy and 41% of the nation\u2019s appliance market, he pointed out. The business now only has a handful of stores still open\u2014and Maher likened Sears\u2019 fate to that of the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n \u201cDemocrats once controlled Congress and the Supreme Court, or at least competitively,\u201d he said. \u201cBut now, even at a time when President [Donald] Trump<\/a> is turning 250 years of democracy into jean shorts, the Democrats have their lowest rating in 35 years \u2014 63% unfavorable,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened? I don\u2019t know. What happened to Sears?\u201d Maher wondered aloud. \u201cIt used to be synonymous with the American dream because it kept faith with what the customer wanted. Did we love Sears? No. But that was beside the point. You just went.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, Maher compared Democrats to other ghost brands, like Playboy and the fashion brand Barney\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not making this up just because it\u2019s Halloween, but after Barney\u2019s closed for good in 2020, it became, yes, a Spirit Halloween,\u201d he shared. \u201cI\u2019m just saying Democrats need to get their s*** together because America needs two political parties, not one party and one Halloween store.\u201d<\/p>\n