Bill Maher, a comedian and talk show host, praised President Trump after their late-March meeting at the White House, calling him “gracious and measured.”
Maher, who was critical of Trump even before he launched his 2016 presidential campaign, revealed on Friday’s episode of “Real Time With Bill Maher” that he brought a piece of paper with nearly 60 insults Trump had hurled at him over the years, ranging from “dummy, sick, and really dumb guy,” and asked him to sign it.
The talk show host emphasized that he did not turn “MAGA” and that “to the President’s credit, there was no pressure to” do so during their meeting on March 31.
“Just for starters,” he says, laughing. I’ve never seen him laugh in public, but he does, including to himself, and it’s genuine, believe me. “As a comedian for 40 years, I know a fake laugh when I hear one,” Maher said.
The dinner between Trump and Maher, who have been feuding for years, was organized by musician Kid Rock, a vocal Trump supporter who also attended the meeting.
“I can’t remember what we were talking about, but it must have been about the 2020 election. Because I know he used the word ‘lost.’ I said, ‘Wow, I never thought I’d hear you say that. “He didn’t get mad,” Maher said of the president on Friday. “He’s much more self-aware than he lets on in public.”
“Look, I understand. He doesn’t care who he is at a private dinner with a comedian. “It matters who he is on the world stage,” the comedian concluded. “I’m simply assuming that this person exists. Because everything I didn’t like about him was, I swear to God, absent on this night with this guy.”
During the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, Trump questioned Maher about his thoughts on ongoing talks with Iran about Tehran’s accelerated nuclear program.
“But, for what it’s worth, I thought the Obama deal was worth letting play out because we forced Iran to destroy 98% of its uranium and kept them 15 years away from a bomb. And then I told him, “But we got rid of that.” “You got rid of that,” Maher stated on Friday. “He didn’t get angry or call me a left-wing lunatic. He took it in. I told him that while I thought some of his plans for Gaza were crazy, I agreed with him on the idea that Gaza could be Dubai rather than hell.
The longtime comedian said he didn’t feel like he needed to walk on “eggshells” when speaking with Trump, which he believes would be unlikely around former Democratic Presidents Obama and Clinton.
“I feel it’s emblematic of why the Democrats are so unpopular these days,” Maher said, later explaining to his viewers that Trump’s public persona differs from his private one.
“I went into the mine, and that is what I found down there. A crazy person does not live in the White House; rather, someone who frequently plays a crazy person on television does, which I know is f—- up. Maher told the audience, “It’s just not as f—— up as I thought it was.”
“That is my report. You can hate me for it, but I’m not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured. And why he isn’t that in other settings, I don’t know, and I can’t answer, and it’s not my place to answer. I’m just telling you what I saw, and I wasn’t high,” he concluded.