Although Bill Maher swears he “didn’t go MAGA” during his visit to the White House, he seems to have a new favorite dinner host.
On Friday’s episode of Real Time, the comedian shared his “book report on my visit to the White House,” after their mutual friend Kid Rock previously extended the invitation out of their shared belief “that there’s gotta be something better than hurling insults from 3,000 miles away.”
“Lemme first say to all of the people who treated this like it was some kind of summit meeting, you’re ridiculous… like I was gonna sign a treaty or something,” he said. “I have no power, I’m a f—ing comedian, and he’s the most powerful leader in the world.
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“I’m not the leader of anything, except maybe a contingent of centrist-minded people who think there’s got to be a better way to run this country than hating each other every minute,” added Maher.
Maher said he “never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him,” adding: “And honestly, I voted for Clinton and Obama, but I would never feel comfortable talking to them the way I was able to talk to Donald Trump. That’s just how it went down, make of it what you will.”
“I’m just reporting exactly what I saw over two and a half hours,” he noted. “I went into the mine, and that’s what’s down there. A crazy person doesn’t live in the White House. A person who plays a crazy person on TV a lot lives there, which I know is f—ed up. It’s just not as f—ed up as I thought it was.”
In addition to challenging him on topics like Iran, Gaza, the Syrian refugee crisis and his proposed third term, Maher said he heard Trump admit he lost the 2020 election.
“I don’t remember exactly what we were talking about but it must have been something about the 2020 election, because I know he used the word ‘lost,’” he recalled. “And I distinctly remember saying, ‘Wow, I never thought I’d hear you say that.’ He didn’t get mad. He’s much more self-aware than he lets on in public.”
Maher clarified he still doesn’t “have a good feeling” about the Trump administration “and will be critical about a lot of what he’s doing … But I also think he now understands that I have a job to do.”
He praised Trump for giving him a “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.”
“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,” added Maher. “I’m just telling you what I saw, and I wasn’t high.”
The post ‘Real Time’: Bill Maher Praises “Gracious & Measured” Trump After White House Dinner: “Not As F—ed Up As I Thought” appeared first on Deadline.
