It finally happened.
Bill Maher, the sardonic court jester of Hollywood, the would-be iconoclast who hates God but loves Israel, who buys into LGBT but doesn’t accept men in women’s sports, went to the White House and ate with President Trump.
The whole set-up reminds me of “My Dinner with Andre”, giving Maher and Trump the proper benefit that they are two keen minds with a strong difference of opinion. Of course, the spoof cartoon “My Dinner with Andy” by Gary Larson came to mind, too.
So, what kind of dinner was it?
Bill Maher spilled all the goods on his evening, and it was good!
He was surprised at how cordial and gentlemanly he was. Trump, of course, but I am sure Kid Rock laid off the rampant cursing, and Dana White didn’t break into a fight. Trump asked Bill’s views on specific issues (the Iran deal, etc.) The HBO comedian didn’t back down from his prior criticisms of the President, but they didn’t come out of the meeting hating each other. Maher differed with Trump on several issues, but Trump allowed him to speak his piece.
Maher recognized that Trump is not the autocrat every sold-out left-wing comic portends.
The President even gave the comedian a tour.
My first reaction to Maher’s April 11, 2025, monologue? “WOW!”
My second reaction: Maher’s a pretty funny guy without the cynicism or bitterness, and a stronger sense of hope for this country emerged.
Bill Maher’s sudden humility (whether for grift, gain, or good) was also a welcome change of tone.
“We share a belief that there has to be something better than hurling insults at each other from 3,000 miles away.”
If you’re going to attack the leader of the free world, you should at least know the guy on a personal level, right?
Maher then admitted, “I have no power. I’m an f----king comedian.”
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Not just HBO Bill but the rest of the American entertainment industry must submit to the new reality. President Trump’s victory against every form of media, academia, and government lawfare has broken the will of the regressive left. They no longer command the political or cultural capital of the last thirty years.
“Everything I’ve ever not liked about him…was absent, at least on this night.”
With his ever-present, self-deprecating sense of humor, Trump signed an interesting document Maher printed out a list of Trump’s insulting remarks leveled at the comedian. It was a genius move for both of them!
The Comedian and the President buried the hatchet on March 31, 2025, and the world is a better place for it. America’s “Two Minutes Hate” politics is getting old, and it’s dangerous. We are all going to either live together or die together. Since we are going to be together, let’s make the most of it, right?
Of course, this country has faced more dire straits, and we have overcome far worse rancor. Any middle school student can retell the 1856 story of Congressman Preston Brooks, who savagely beat US Senator Charles Sumner following the Senator’s vituperative tirade against the Southern plantation slavocracy. Congressmen were bringing guns and knives on a routine basis to the US Capitol in the decade leading up to the Civil War.
We were nowhere near that kind of heated destruction. But we were getting close (despotic DC regime, George Floyd riots, DEI everywhere). Maher’s rapprochement with Trump signals that we are getting back to normal.
Besides “My Dinner with Andre”, Maher’s meeting with Trump reminded me of another fraught time in our country’s history that ended better: The Election of 1800, the first contentious election which divided Founding Fathers (and good friends) like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson for decades. Those two began corresponding later in life, and President Jefferson declared in his inaugural speech, “We are all Republicans. We are all Federalists.”
After his monologue, Maher engaged with some guests of his own, including Piers Morgan, another liberal who is moderating his progressive tendencies. And then there was Josh Rogin of The Washington Post, proof that the media have not learned their lesson.
Rogin’s gave his first mistaken take on Maher’s visit: “People are making too much of this.” Actually, people need to make more of it. I remember Maher’s moaning monologues from 2017, including a set called “America, we need to talk.” During his 2019 interview with Chris Christie, Maher predicted that Trump would fall and fail. He even called Trump supporters racist, despicable, and deplorable during his 2017 interview with Breitbart’s Alex Marlow.
Fast forward to today, Bill Maher conceded that Trump is doing a great job. He’s resonating with voters, he’s leading the country into peace, and he is fixing the border. In other words, he’s an effective politician. Referring back to his monologue, Maher listed all the things that he agrees with Trump about, too. This is a huge turnaround!
However, ever wanting to stir up controversy, Rogin suggested that Trump played Bill Maher. “It’s a PR stunt,” Rogin chided Maher. My response? No kidding! Of course, it’s PR, but Trump was willing to favor Kid Rock, and Trump is making inroads by bringing erstwhile enemies into his fold. In his most telling rebuttal, Maher fired at Rogin: “Did you listen to what I said?”
And that is the point. Rogin and his media peers don’t listen but would rather hide behind “the Internet class” of public opinion than virtue-signal how much Trump sucks. Maher wants to move past the useless rancor. And I believe him.
Does it mean that I will watch Maher with expectant glee going forward? Probably not. His unrepentant atheism and his ongoing commitment to rehabilitating liberalism will still get a pass from me. My main criticism of Piers Morgan and Bill Maher is their mantra, “The Left went too far.” The truth is that it is that the Left always goes “too far.”
Nevertheless, Maher wanted to bridge the gap and did the unthinkable. He deserves credit for that.
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