Bill Maher praised President Donald Trump as “gracious” and “measured” during their recent White House meeting while providing a “book report” from the night’s events to his audience.
On Friday’s Real Time, Maher detailed his dinner with the president, which also included Kid Rock and UFC head Dana White, and he called Trump “more self-aware” than he lets on in public. Maher said the president was far less aggressive behind the scenes compared to when he’s in front of cameras.
“You can hate me for it, but I’m not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured,” Maher said. “And why 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.”
The comedian showed up a printout of dozens of insults the president has thrown his way over the years, including calling him a “sleazebag,” “stone cold crazy,” a “really dumb guy,” and more. Maher revealed that Trump actually signed the list.
The Real Time host said he did not receive pushback from Trump when questioning some of his positions, and he was also shocked to hear Trump admit he “lost” the 2020 presidential election.
“I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him. And, honestly, I voted for Clinton and Obama, but I would never feel comfortable talking to them the way I was able to talk with Donald Trump. That’s just how it went down. Make of it what you will. Me? I feel it’s emblematic of why the Democrats are so unpopular these days,” Maher said.
At one point during the dinner, Maher confronted Trump and accused him of “scaring” his own citizens too much with talk of a third term and more.
“At one point, I said to him, ‘you’re scaring people. Do you really want to be scaring your own citizens so much?,’” he recalled. “And I know now you’re all saying, ‘and what did he say to that?’ Honestly, I don’t remember. But it wasn’t, okay, I’ll stop. So MAGA fans, don’t worry. Your boy gave me nothing, just hats. Hats in a very generous amount of time and a willingness to listen and accept me as a possible friend, even though I’m not MAGA, which was the point of the dinner.”
Watch above via HBO.
