Bill Maher used his 700th episode of Real Time to vent about how modern TV and film portrayals of men—what he calls "eye-roll, short-bus dads"—are undermining masculinity and, in his view, hurting Democrats politically. He tied this cultural critique to election losses and even linked it to the rise of controversial figures like Andrew Tate, suggesting media’s weak male archetypes push people toward extreme alternatives.

Editor’s Note: Maher’s rant taps into a broader debate about how pop culture shapes politics and gender norms. Whether you agree with him or not, it’s a sign of how frustrated some are with the way masculinity is depicted—and how those frustrations can spill into real-world consequences, from voting patterns to the appeal of polarizing influencers. It’s less about TV dads and more about who gets to define what "strong" or "likable" even looks like.