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Bill Maher has claimed Donald Trump is “way less” of a threat than he used to be, in a podcast recorded hours before the president went on a lengthy rant to call the talk show host a “total loser.”
Maher, 70, dined with Trump, Kid Rock and ESPN host Stephen A. Smith at the White House on October 15. The late night HBO host then had Trump’s former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on the October 23 episode of his show, Real Time with Bill Maher, during which Maher poked at Trump on various topics.
Trump, 80, then posted a 1,300-word social media screed Sunday night accusing Maher, 70, of various lies and instructing the comedian: “Bill: Don’t call anymore.”
Now, on Monday’s episode of the HBO host’s Club Random podcast with filmmaker Justine Bateman — recorded prior to Trump’s lengthy social media post — Maher downplayed Trump’s significance.
Maher said that he is regularly approached by Hollywood liberals at “restaurants… nice restaurants, where rich people go.”
Maher continued: “They say some version of, or very often exactly say, ‘Bill, what are we gonna do?’ And I know what they mean, they mean Trump is so awful, what are we gonna do? And I always say: ‘Go back to the table and finish your $1,000 dinner for three people, you f***ing phony!’”
He went on: “Because your life is great. Your life has not been actually affected by Donald Trump at all. That’s not to say that Donald Trump is not a threat in the many ways he has always been, but is way less so now. He’s a lame duck now.”
“Just recognize the reality of that,” said Maher. “Your life didn’t end. I mean, I was more alarmed about Donald Trump 10 years ago than I was now. He hadn’t been president yet, and I was already recognizing the fact that he doesn’t concede elections.”
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The fall out between the two men comes after Trump initially seemed to be impressed after their dinner meeting, telling reporters a day later that he and Maher liked each other.
“Bill Maher, I tell you what, he likes me a lot more than people understand, and I actually like him,” he said.
During his October 23 show, Maher said that Trump had the “lowest approval rating of any midterm candidate ever,” poked fun at the president’s comments about Senator Jon Husted’s body and asked Leavitt what Trump could be like during the “lame duck” phase of his presidency.
Trump’s Sunday night rant saw the president making a slew of claims about Maher, including a suggestion that the comedian had been desperate to dine at the White House after meeting Trump there previously.
“No sooner had we had that first dinner at the White House, which is a very seductive and beautiful place, especially now that I have fully renovated and fixed it in the style which it deserves, Bill wanted to come back,” Trump said. “The Gofer called me multiple times, saying how much Bill loves me, that he respects me more than anybody, and wants to come back for a second meeting.
“After the second dinner, Bill’s ‘show’ was far worse than the first. He went crazy! He’s gutless, because he enjoyed every minute,” he wrote.
Maher has yet to respond to Trump’s post.