Bill Maher has made an unexpected admission about Donald Trump after attending a private White House dinner with the president.
The Real Time host, who has long been critical of Trump and previously called for him to be impeached, revealed the result of the evening after being invited by their mutual friend, the musician and noted Republican Kid Rock.
Maher accepted the invitation in an attempt to soften hostilities between the pair as “there’s gotta be something better than hurling insults from 3,000 miles away”.
But the comedian was surprised to find that he enjoyed Trump’s company, calling him “gracious and measured” – and far different to the “crazy” man he watches on TV.
“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,” Maher said on Friday’s episode of Real Time (11 April), adding: “I’m just telling you what I saw and I wasn’t high.”
He praised Trump for making him “feel comfortable” with talking candidly about any subject, stating: “I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him.”
The host continued: “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.”
Maher, “reporting exactly what I saw over two-and-a-half hours”, went on: “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.”
“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. 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.”
He also claimed he heard Trump admit he lost the 2020 election – and “didn’t get mad” when Maher pointed that out.
“He’s much more self-aware than he lets on in public,” Maher said, but admitted he still has negative feelings about the president’s administration.
Overall, he said Trump gave him a “generous amount of time” and showcased “a willingness to listen and accept me as a possible friend even though I’m not MAGA”, which he said “was the point of the dinner”.
The host also hit out at those who criticized him for accepting the invitation, stating: “To all of the people who treated this like it was some kind of summit meeting, you’re ridiculous.
“I have no power, I’m a f***ing comedian and he’s the most powerful leader in the world.”
He continued: “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.”
