Bill Maher used his HBO show to answer President Trump’s record 1,323-word attack on him, taking on the claims one by one and saying it was Trump who did the calling.
Story Highlights
- Maher read Trump’s post on air and said, “I’ve never called you. You call me!”
- He laughed off the claim that he “invited himself” to the White House.
- He played clips of himself backing Trump’s February 28 strike on Iran.
- Trump’s Truth Social post was his longest ever and ended, “Bill: Don’t call anymore.”
Maher Answers Trump Point By Point
On Friday, October 30, Bill Maher, host of HBO’s Real Time, opened his show by going through the long post President Trump wrote about him. Trump posted it on Sunday, October 25, on Truth Social, his own social media site. The post came two days after Maher used his show to defend his second White House dinner with the president. Trump answered that defense with a stream of insults, and Maher set out to answer back. “I’m not going to refute everything,” he said, “but I do have to address a few of the allegations.”
Maher started with a joke. He said eating with Trump is a lot like dating Taylor Swift: “It’s a lot of fun at the time,” and then later on you get torn apart. He also poked at the length of the post. “Longest ever! Kind of a flex,” he said.
What Trump Said And How Maher Answered
Trump called Maher a “complete and total loser.” Maher took the label as a joke. Trump also said Maher kept calling him. Maher said the opposite was true. “I’ve never called you,” he said. “You call me!” He added, “I’d be afraid to call you; you’re the president.”
Trump wrote that Maher had “invited himself” to the White House. Trump said Maher sought the dinners through friends, including Chuck LaBella, a TV producer, and Kid Rock. Maher scoffed at the idea. “As if you could do that!” he said.
Trump also said Maher looked bad at the dinner, with a “seriously bruised eye and nose area.” Maher said that was not so and pointed to dinner photos the White House had given him. “It’s in the pictures!” he said. Trump had also said Maher was drunk and carrying a drink through the White House, and called him a “major POTHEAD.” Maher joked his way through those lines.
On Iran, Trump wrote that Maher thought taking away Iran’s nuclear weapon was a bad idea, and said Maher was not very smart. Maher answered by playing clips of himself backing Trump’s February 28 strike on Iran. Then he asked Trump whether that made him smart.
Why This Fight Drew So Much Attention
The post set a record. It ran 1,323 words, and Factbase, a database that tracks what Trump says and posts, rated it his longest social media post since 2011. It covered a lot of ground. Trump attacked Maher’s ratings, his honesty and his polls on the president. He said their second dinner lasted two hours or less, not the four hours Maher described. Stephen A. Smith, the sports host who was also at the dinner, said it ran four hours and 20 minutes.
For Trump’s supporters, the fight is a familiar one. A TV host who often mocks them sat down with the president twice and then got a hard answer from him in public. Maher, for his part, chose a few claims to answer and let the rest go by.
Where Things Stand
Both men have had their say in public. Trump made his case in writing and closed with, “Bill: Don’t call anymore.” Maher made his on camera, with clips and photos to back the points he chose to answer.
Readers can see both sides in each man’s own words and decide for themselves. Trump used the biggest platform in politics to go after a TV critic. Maher used his own show to hit back, line by line, with a laugh along the way.
Sources:
mediaite.com, rawstory.com, latenighter.com, cnn.com
