Comedian and longtime Donald Trump critic Bill Maher credited the president as being “one of the most effective politicians” days after having dinner with the commander in chief at the White House.
Maher offered his rare praise for Trump’s authenticity on his popular “Club Random” podcast on Sunday during a conversation with NewsNation journalist Chris Cuomo.
“Trump really … is one of the most effective politicians … whatever you think of the policy and him as a person,” the 69-year-old conceded.
“Just as a politician just understanding that [you should] always lean in to being more who you are,” he continued.
“The people are not savvy about issues but they smell a phony a mile away and that kind of s–t, nobody else does it.”
The lefty comic has been roasting the president for nearly a decade since Trump entered the political sphere — but joined him for a private dinner at the White House last week that was arranged by Trump supporter and musician Kid Rock.
During Sunday’s episode, Maher praised Trump’s political prowess compared to the Democrats’, despite disagreeing with him on most issues.
“You know, he has those moments that no other politician has. And the Democrats have to find that guy,” Maher admitted. “But let’s be real — they’ve been searching for years, and they’re still coming up empty.”
One moment he specifically recalled was when Trump threatened the Taliban leader after former President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
“When he did that thing where the guy came in from the Taliban and he said, ‘This is an aerial picture of your house. If during our withdrawal one American is hurt, just know I know where you live,’” Maher said.
“I was like, ‘Oh, can we just play the music now? Because I don’t care it’s Donald Trump and he’s the worst person ever, blah, blah, blah – I f–king love that!,” he said.
The “Real Time” host also credited Trump’s appeal to regular voters for his relatability.
“One time they were doing something, something was going on and he said, ‘You know what? When you come after New York, you gotta go through me.” It’s like, oh — hometown boy,” he remarked.
Kid Rock, whose legal name is Robert James Ritchie, told Sean Hannity last week that Maher seemed nervous about his first visit to the White House.
At one point during the dinner, which UFC President Dana White also attended, Trump asked if he’d like a drink, to which Maher jokingly replied that he’d take a margarita. Trump then had the White House staff prepare one for him.
“We basically stuck to things that we agreed on,” Rock said about the conversation.
“They both have extremely deep knowledge of American history, both very smart guys, and you know, very reasonable people, even though they’ve had this pretty harsh relationship. It was cool.”
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