Bill Maher Defends Praising Trump After Dinner Meeting: It’s Not a ‘Bad Thing’

On the Sunday, April 20, episode of his Club Random podcast, Bill Maher discussed his recent dinner meeting with Donald Trump and doubled down on the shockingly positive comments he made about the president.

While speaking with guest Charlie Kirk, Maher explained, “I voted for [Barack] Obama, I voted for [Hillary Clinton, but the idea that I could talk to them as freely as I felt this conversation was going is emblematic, to me, of why Democrats lose elections.”

He also referred to Trump as more of a “real person” than Democratic leaders he’s met in the past. “I know it’s so weird to say that about Donald Trump, who I’ve said a jillion times is, you know, a whiny little b**ch,” Maher admitted. “But this was about getting past that and maybe seeing that if we met in person, we don’t hate each other as much. And we don’t.”

The comedian also didn’t view this as a negative, adding, “I’m sorry, I’m not going to pretend that’s a bad thing.”

In March, Maher and Trump met for dinner after their mutual friend, Kid Rock, organized the sit down. On the April 11 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, the talk show host opened up about the dinner and explained why he was so surprised by his time spent with Trump behind closed doors.

“Just for starters, he laughs,” Maher pointed out. “I’ve never seen him laugh in public, but he does, including at himself. And it’s not fake. Believe me, as a comedian of 40 years, I know a fake laugh when I hear it.”

Maher said that Trump was more “self-aware” than he comes off in public, referencing a conversation where the president admitting he “lost” the 2020 election.

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“Look, I get it. It doesn’t matter who he is at a private dinner with a comedian; it matters who he is on the world stage,” Maher continued. “I’m just taking it as a positive that this person exists, because everything I’ve ever not liked about him was, I swear to God, absent, at least on this night with this guy.”

What shocked viewers the most, though, was when Maher concluded his story by admitting that Trump was “gracious and measured,” although he said he wasn’t sure why he doesn’t act like that in other settings.