"I've had so many conversations with prominent people who are much less connected... And he mostly steered the conversation to: What do you think about this?... There were there were so many moments when I hit him with a joke or contradicted something and no problem.... I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him.... I voted for Clinton and Obama, but I would never feel comfortable talking to them the way I was able to talk with Donald Trump.... I feel it's emblematic of why the Democrats are so unpopular these days.... My favorite part of the whole night was: We were standing in the Blow Job Room*... and he said 'You know, I've heard from a lot of people who really like that we're having this dinner — not all, but a lot.' And I said "Same — lot of people told me they loved it — but not all.' And we agreed. The people who don't even want us to talk: We don't like you. Don't talk? As opposed to what? Writing the same editorial for the millionth time and making 25-hour speeches into the wind?"
–––––––––––––––––––
* Maher had established the term "Blow Job Room" earlier in the monologue: "After we left the Oval Office, he showed me the little room off the office. You know, the one where Clinton used to" — audience laughs — "Okay, the Blow Job Room. Okay. Well, not anymore. That's where they keep the merch, and he gave me a bunch of hats, but he didn't ask me to take a picture in one, which I appreciated...."
The opposition was amazed that Trump did not behave monstrously, despite the opposition description of Trump as a monster. This confuses them, until they see Trump do something they can again describe as monstrous, like him waking up on Monday.
Maher isn't saying Trump changed, he implies his public persona is a schtick. You know, an act. Playing a character. A character that causes DNC minions to react like retahdz.
Maher claims not to know about Don Rickles, in effect. Trump is not crazy in public and sane in private - he's sane in both places, with a Don Rickles sense of humor.
Suddenly we care about Bill Maher's thinking... He's just another recent jumper-on-the-bandwagon. Easy come, easy go. Did Bill fire one up in the WH bathroom, do you think? #NotImpressed
ANYONE who has met Trump would not be surprised by Maher's impressions. I have met Trump twice; I was not surprised. He's a rare, RARE politician—what you see is what you get.
Now let's talk about Maher's shtick. Or is he really too unaware and undiscerning to know that Trump's political persona is purposeful and effective, and that there are scores of accounts that describe how he's personable, gracious, and engaging in more congenial settings? I give Maher credit for reaching out though, and the same to Kid Rock.
I admire Trump for trying to bridge the divide. Maher is merely reacting to the fact that the politics he supported and cheered on are now seen as a flaming sack of shit. He was one of the main drunken cheerleaders for the decade long Orwellian 2 minutes of hate. And as to Trumps public vs private appearance, maybe after being attacked for a decade, you just say fuckit and come out swinging, you know people like Maher, Stewart won't report honestly anyway. Trump reacts the way he does, both good and bad, because at his core , he loves America. Maher sees that he devoted much of his talent to supporting shit ideas, and worse people. and that America is sick and tired of that crap. The money and the audience for all that nonsense is rapidly drying up. Maher is realizing he needs to find a new audience-his old one died on hate and lies, much of which were pushed by Maher.
I have long thought that what galls them most about Trump is that he was basically an amature and demolished all the credentialed professional politicians, including the Clintons, the most professional politicians around. He was like, “What!? - Is this hard? This is easy. Even I could win.” And then he did. It was a severe blow to their phony baloney claims of extraordinary stature and expertise and gravitas as our “leaders”
“What, like beating you is so hard?” It galls them to no end. Makes them worry that others might get the idea that our country could be run by citizen leaders, and we don’t really need life-long ambitious, studied, self-groomed blowhards.
It's not that Trump cultivates an unlikeable public persona. It's that so many, especially those who are predisposed to dislike him in the first place because he's on the the other team, get their ideas about what kind of man he is only from his detractors and his detractors have given themselves license to be particularly aggressive because "Trump is different".
In Maher's case, the guy is a snob and basically a fearful guy. That was especially clear and obvious in his conversation with Chris Cuomo, posted by Althouse the other day. Maher was drunk and a bit unfiltered, spouting his sneering contempt for the ordinary man and woman. I thought Cuomo, who was sober, looked really bored with Maher. Anyway, credit to Maher for being honest about finding Trump charming, socially adept and likeable. If Maher had given a moment's thought to Trumps life and accomplishments, he wouldn't have been surprised.
Does Maher use a laugh-track, or is there one loud drunk in the audience? I remember in 2015-6 figuring out that Trump had a buffoonish shtick that many seemingly normal people viscerally hated. After watching a few SOTUs, I was already done with long clips of politicians pontificating, but that's really the only way Trump makes sense.
Maher has been in show business for 40+ years and was unaware that Trump is able to make fun of himself? Before he became worse than Hitler he made regular TV appearances poking fun at his persona, including on SNL.
Here are a couple of instances: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y0YVxVFywE0 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y0YVxVFywE0 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9CPCtQFHDhY
And here is one from the Emmys before he became a homophobe who, for some reason, came out for gay marriage back when Obama was still saying it should only be between a man and a woman.
Oh my goodness, a progressive-liberal discovers a Kennedy-Democrat is a pleasant human being with rational thoughts.
Trump is a gracious host, an intelligent guy, a non-politician who insists Americans and America should be 1st priority of federal government. He's not a globalist elite policy wonk. Trump is more "Kennedy Democrat" politically-speaking, and certainly not a traditional Republican. Obama, despite his cult of personality hero-worshippers, will eventually be known as one of the worst presidents.
And Biden, as the worst president ever, worst non-present president ever.
My social circle is filled with liberal democrats still gnashing their teeth, loudly moaning that Biden, or his successor worst-candidate-ever Harris, is not presently president. TDS made manifest, some of them are acting deranged.
Apparently my post on why it is ridiculous for Maher to not know that Trump is willing to take a joke at his own expense got lost, so I will try again.
Trump was perfectly fine being openly criticized. Huh. All the yammering about how he’s demanding loyalty, which he does, is not about protecting him from criticism. It’s the opposite - be free to debate openly, and accept any decision Trump makes respectfully and without publically or privately badmouthing the decision. It’s called disagree and commit, where I come from.
Quayle, I agree with your observation Trump destroyed the "elder statesman" political profile trope. He demonstrated it's not actually difficult to become a viable national political candidate if you establish a visceral connection with your political base. That Trump won presidential election twice, probably won thrice, outrages political establishment of both national parties.
I think Quayle at 8:24 gets it right. Original Mike seems to be suffering from Maher Derangement when he says "Right. He changed. Just this one night. Just for you, Bill." As others have said, there is ample evidence from multiple sources that Trump, in person, is gracious to all and besides that, that isn't what Maher said.
The left are told to HATE Musk - and they obey. Leftists have zero self awareness that their obedience to Elite democratic narratives is creepy as hell.
does ANYONE like the democrats? do Democrats like the democrats? do atheist trans POC marxists like the democrats? married people? white people? single people? anyone?
I guess, the dems will Always have the AWFUL people
Bill displayed, to me, an example of inch deep, mile wide knowledge on the Iran nuke deal. The monitoring was virtually non-existent and what there was turned out to be blocked on several occasions. Iran, awash in oil needed a nuclear POWER program as they proclaimed while they enriched uranium well beyond what was needed for reactors? But sure, Bill, THAT was your chosen example of why Orange Man (policies) Bad.
I find Maher so unfunny and so dumb, and gross, I have no idea what people see in him. Maybe they're desperate for comedy and half-way intelligent talk, and Maher is there, so they settle for it.
Maher should have rephrased his statement as: "As someone who has voted for Carter, Dukasis, Mondale, Clinton, Gore, Obama, Biden, Hillary, and Harris, I could never have sat down and had a dinner with any of them".
Trump just likes talking to people. Never forget he's not a politician. He's a billionaire who decided to run for office when he was a senior citizen. That's why he's comfortable having dinnner with Ye or Nick Fuentes and then having it with Bill Maher. Its also why he's willing to meet with Putin or the NK dictator. He doesn't see any harm in talking.
Maher is just another Hollywood liberal/leftist. Give him a test on his political beliefs and you'd find he's not different than 90 percent of Entertainment Industry. BTW, was Maher making jokes about Biden being incompetent and senile prior to 1st debate? Was he making jokes about the Democrats being unpopular prior to November 2024?
I see his comments, and its just the standard "We don't need to change our product, just our marketing strategy".
Reminds me of how Peggy Noonan didn’t want to meet Trump because she just knew he’d overwhelm her defenses with his charm, she’d end up actually LIKING the man, and never trust herself to write about him again.
Trump spoke to Oprah about the need to Make America Great Again as early as the late 80s. Leftists have been teabagging Americans as the British empire once did, and Americans are ready to throw another tea party and dump their bags.
Politics aside, Maher confirms something I've learned gradually over the course of my entire private and public life: people who have no sense of humor are not to be trusted. As long as the Democratic Party is dominated by the "That's not funny!" crowd, they are not to be trusted.
The admission of discomfort talking to Clinton or Obama is the key point here for me. Most of our politicians have spent their whole lives being guarded, bland, and always "on." Trump benefits by not being a stiff.
That's good for Trump and Mahler, but politicians usually have a great deal of charm. People who were primed to hate politicians come away liking them (at least a little) after meeting them in person. Bill Clinton most famously had that effect on people. It's a skill that you can learn through trial and error and much practice. It's a skill that Bill's wife never quite picked up.
Ronald Reagan might have had a similar effect on Maher. Democrats may make the best Republicans (and the worst Democrats). While the nimbus or aura of a politician can have great effects on people, it's always been clear that the "real" or "deeper" private Trump is different from the character he plays on stage. The fact that Trump wasn't in politics his whole life helps. It means that he hasn't developed the off-putting mannerisms and cliches of the professional politician.
I watched all of Ann's provided clip. Enjoyable. I don't watch Maher's show, and disagree with him on much, but there are areas of agreement. I think the Greatest Show on Earth would be a 2 two person race for CA Gov 2026 D primary between Kamala Harris and Bill Maher.
Upon reflection, I think Maher would lose the 2026 CA Gov D primary to Kamala Harris. But, if he then decided to run as an Ind or an R, I predict he would pull off the upset of a limetime. CA needs sane leadership.
One of self-help books be peddled recently is the "Let Them Theory". Since hearing it explained, I wondered what would happen if people applied it to Trump. Trump is talking to Musk? The world's richest man won't be scared off by some Teslas's being burned and one of the world's richest men will talk to whomever he wants to regardless of how many Teslas are burned, so let them. If you want people to go electric - really want them to go electric - then don't spend your time making the process of owning and charging electric as unpleasant and dangerous as possible. Find a better candidate for the next election. Much easier and likely to succeed than convincing millions of people they were wrong to vote for Trump.
Quayle said... It galls them to no end. Makes them worry that others might get the idea that our country could be run by citizen leaders, and we don’t really need life-long ambitious, studied, self-groomed blowhards.
This is why they tried to make an example of Trump through lawfare, etc. To dissuade anyone with wealth from doing the same. Like they are doing to Musk now.
That way, people with wealth have to go through the political class, empowering and funding it.
Would people stop acting like Bill Maher is "Dumb" or "ignorant". Look, this guy spends his entire day looking at the news and deciding what to joke and talk about. If you can spent a few minutes every day reading the news, and you know the truth, so does Maher. So he's not "Misinformed" - he's lying.
Clinton would probably be a PITA at dinner because he is a genuine policy wonk. If Maher brought up some policy he disagreed with, Clinton would probably spend the rest of the dinner defending the policy and trying to bring Maher around.
Trump is fine with just nodding, as if to acknowledge "ok, you disagree, you're a grown-ass man, I respect that. We've got other stuff to do right now - hey, how did your steak come out? Do you like the au gratin potatoes?"
(BTW, by "Clinton" above, I mean Bill. Who knows what Hilary would do if confronted with disagreement at dinner. Nothing good.)
Trump didn't prove it's easy to become President, try it. He only proved he is exceptional, and it's well within his ability. All the people convinced they are smarter and more capable than him must be impervious to evidence. A lot of people have the ability to convince themselves they are capable of things they never could accomplish if only they got the opportunity, but that is the first test, and only the entry fee. Who among them thinks they could overcome having the President, his political party, the DOJ, FBI, CIA, Hollywood, academia, most of the media and half the country against them trying to stop him at any cost. Who could beat all that, and come out stronger? Go ahead, tell me who would even take that challenge, because Trump did, and did it voluntarily. I'm not a humble guy, but he humbles me.
Sometimes, but I've often seen him completely surprised by guests who bring counter arguments and facts that are widely known on the right. He's not well-informed enough to understand the other side's arguments.
I've read more than one account of people who met with Trump before he entered politics, expecting that he would behave like a rich entitled jerk and were surprised to find that he was actually a very nice guy. One time, it was someone who was interviewing him about The Apprentice, and Trump was delayed but took some extra time when he got there to redo the interview until they got a good version. The interviewer said that Trump could not have been nicer.
Maher’s admission and review of key issues “We needed to fix the border”, “we went too far on DEI”, “Europe needed to pay more of their defense costs”, “We needed to stop spending “ and “Boys shouldn’t be allowed to play in girls sports” were exactly the reason Trump was elected. It was actually a subtle endorsement of Trump.
Sounds like maher has not been led by those few hours to rethink his own positions. I hope he frames and displays the autographed insults as a reminder of the mind of the guy he's dealing with.
DJT sabotaging his own brand with any association with idiots like "Kid" Rock (age 54) and a distinctly unfunny stand-up comedian & political commentator like Bill Mahr is just as awful and as the Dem politicals and their Hollywood showbiz groupies are. So why does he do it? You would think he'd know better but then again it's Blorrmf America's orange-complected double-president with his own Hollywood blvd star. FTP.
Bob Boyd: "If Maher had given a moment's thought to Trumps life and accomplishments, he wouldn't have been surprised."
Precisely. Also- how many years have so many of us heard stories about Trump with 'the little people', some guy or gal who works for him, down in the bowels of one of his hotels, or in an office building or somewhere, where he is out of the public eye, away from cameras, just talking and listening to the other guy, the 'small people'. Giving his time, talking earnestly, listening actively with them. Doesn't need to be nice or do things for people. But he is, and he does. We used to call guys like him a mensch.
He's just nasty to those who fight him. That's who he is.
Readering said... "Sounds like maher has not been led by those few hours to rethink his own positions. I hope he frames and displays the autographed insults as a reminder of the mind of the guy he's dealing with." And that is why, Readering, you will never be a success.
I have a somewhat mentally ill sister-in-law who says and writes the most poisonous, provocative things to members our family over the telephone or by text and email, but has never once in more than twenty years been anything less than absolutely charming in countless face-to-face conversations. It is as though she is two separate people and distance and proximity causes her to switch back and forth between her two personalities.
I thought of her listening to Maher’s account of the Trumps he’s experienced.
Maher reminds me of James McAvory's character, Nicholas Garrigan, in the film "The Last King of Scotland." A well-meaning but naïve fool who willfully turns a blind eye to Amin's treachery out of some misplaced consequentialist notion of a common good.
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Encourage Althouse by making a donation:
Make a 1-time donation or set up a monthly donation of any amount you choose:
Posts
78 comments:
This is how religions grow -- one conversion at a time...
Hats all folks.
The opposition was amazed that Trump did not behave monstrously, despite the opposition description of Trump as a monster. This confuses them, until they see Trump do something they can again describe as monstrous, like him waking up on Monday.
Man of the People!
"Everything I've ever not liked about him was — I swear to God — absent at least on this night with this guy...."
Right. He changed. Just this one night. Just for you, Bill.
Idiot.
This is what the fall of an illegitimate regime looks like.
The portrait of Obama was replaced with something much better and something completely iconic.
Obama is going to have some rough treatment in the history books.
Maher isn't saying Trump changed, he implies his public persona is a schtick. You know, an act. Playing a character. A character that causes DNC minions to react like retahdz.
Maher claims not to know about Don Rickles, in effect. Trump is not crazy in public and sane in private - he's sane in both places, with a Don Rickles sense of humor.
Suddenly we care about Bill Maher's thinking...
He's just another recent jumper-on-the-bandwagon.
Easy come, easy go. Did Bill fire one up in the WH bathroom, do you think? #NotImpressed
ANYONE who has met Trump would not be surprised by Maher's impressions. I have met Trump twice; I was not surprised. He's a rare, RARE politician—what you see is what you get.
That's a fact, Jack.
Now let's talk about Maher's shtick. Or is he really too unaware and undiscerning to know that Trump's political persona is purposeful and effective, and that there are scores of accounts that describe how he's personable, gracious, and engaging in more congenial settings? I give Maher credit for reaching out though, and the same to Kid Rock.
I admire Trump for trying to bridge the divide. Maher is merely reacting to the fact that the politics he supported and cheered on are now seen as a flaming sack of shit. He was one of the main drunken cheerleaders for the decade long Orwellian 2 minutes of hate.
And as to Trumps public vs private appearance, maybe after being attacked for a decade, you just say fuckit and come out swinging, you know people like Maher, Stewart won't report honestly anyway.
Trump reacts the way he does, both good and bad, because at his core , he loves America.
Maher sees that he devoted much of his talent to supporting shit ideas, and worse people. and that America is sick and tired of that crap. The money and the audience for all that nonsense is rapidly drying up. Maher is realizing he needs to find a new audience-his old one died on hate and lies, much of which were pushed by Maher.
It is hard not to like Maher despite his highly partisan Democrat perspective. (Many of my very likable relatives are life long Democrats).
What I like about Maher is that he tries to be honest. Contrast that with our usual lefty suspects here on the Althouse blog.
I have long thought that what galls them most about Trump is that he was basically an amature and demolished all the credentialed professional politicians, including the Clintons, the most professional politicians around. He was like, “What!? - Is this hard? This is easy. Even I could win.” And then he did. It was a severe blow to their phony baloney claims of extraordinary stature and expertise and gravitas as our “leaders”
“What, like beating you is so hard?” It galls them to no end. Makes them worry that others might get the idea that our country could be run by citizen leaders, and we don’t really need life-long ambitious, studied, self-groomed blowhards.
Well said, Jimmy @8:20am!
It's not that Trump cultivates an unlikeable public persona. It's that so many, especially those who are predisposed to dislike him in the first place because he's on the the other team, get their ideas about what kind of man he is only from his detractors and his detractors have given themselves license to be particularly aggressive because "Trump is different".
In Maher's case, the guy is a snob and basically a fearful guy.
That was especially clear and obvious in his conversation with Chris Cuomo, posted by Althouse the other day. Maher was drunk and a bit unfiltered, spouting his sneering contempt for the ordinary man and woman. I thought Cuomo, who was sober, looked really bored with Maher.
Anyway, credit to Maher for being honest about finding Trump charming, socially adept and likeable. If Maher had given a moment's thought to Trumps life and accomplishments, he wouldn't have been surprised.
The left are unable and refuse discuss anything. They are paralyzed by their MSNBC toxic cancer-brain rage.
It's just "YOU'RE A NAZI!" over & over.
Ann you should follow up with the guests portion of the show. Josh Rogin is the most insufferable prick about Bill's visit.
Does Maher use a laugh-track, or is there one loud drunk in the audience?
I remember in 2015-6 figuring out that Trump had a buffoonish shtick that many seemingly normal people viscerally hated. After watching a few SOTUs, I was already done with long clips of politicians pontificating, but that's really the only way Trump makes sense.
So does this mean that Trump is not literally Hitler?
but but but "We MUST STOP THE OLIGARCHY!"
LOL. morons.
Maher has been in show business for 40+ years and was unaware that Trump is able to make fun of himself?
Before he became worse than Hitler he made regular TV appearances poking fun at his persona, including on SNL.
Here are a couple of instances:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y0YVxVFywE0
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y0YVxVFywE0
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9CPCtQFHDhY
And here is one from the Emmys before he became a homophobe who, for some reason, came out for gay marriage back when Obama was still saying it should only be between a man and a woman.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9CPCtQFHDhY
Also, I think Trump acts pretty much like I would expect someone his age who is from Queens to act.
Oh my goodness, a progressive-liberal discovers a Kennedy-Democrat is a pleasant human being with rational thoughts.
Trump is a gracious host, an intelligent guy, a non-politician who insists Americans and America should be 1st priority of federal government. He's not a globalist elite policy wonk.
Trump is more "Kennedy Democrat" politically-speaking, and certainly not a traditional Republican. Obama, despite his cult of personality hero-worshippers, will eventually be known as one of the worst presidents.
And Biden, as the worst president ever, worst non-present president ever.
My social circle is filled with liberal democrats still gnashing their teeth, loudly moaning that Biden, or his successor worst-candidate-ever Harris, is not presently president. TDS made manifest, some of them are acting deranged.
Apparently my post on why it is ridiculous for Maher to not know that Trump is willing to take a joke at his own expense got lost, so I will try again.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9CPCtQFHDhY
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9CPCtQFHDhY
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y0YVxVFywE0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY5r9l2NhMs
Trump was perfectly fine being openly criticized. Huh. All the yammering about how he’s demanding loyalty, which he does, is not about protecting him from criticism. It’s the opposite - be free to debate openly, and accept any decision Trump makes respectfully and without publically or privately badmouthing the decision. It’s called disagree and commit, where I come from.
Quayle, I agree with your observation Trump destroyed the "elder statesman" political profile trope. He demonstrated it's not actually difficult to become a viable national political candidate if you establish a visceral connection with your political base. That Trump won presidential election twice, probably won thrice, outrages political establishment of both national parties.
I think Quayle at 8:24 gets it right. Original Mike seems to be suffering from Maher Derangement when he says "Right. He changed. Just this one night. Just for you, Bill." As others have said, there is ample evidence from multiple sources that Trump, in person, is gracious to all and besides that, that isn't what Maher said.
One more try
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00bGPhETXXM
The left are told to HATE Musk - and they obey.
Leftists have zero self awareness that their obedience to Elite democratic narratives is creepy as hell.
Interview with Meghan Kelly couple of months ago, Maher still believed police were killed on Jan 6.
When corrected, it was, "Oh. Anyway"
How in the world can someone so well informed still believe police were killed Jan 6?
Is he ignorant, or was he knowingly repeating the lie and expecting no pushback?
A clip of Trump at one of the rallys has him making fun of his comb-over
does ANYONE like the democrats?
do Democrats like the democrats?
do atheist trans POC marxists like the democrats?
married people?
white people?
single people?
anyone?
I guess, the dems will Always have the AWFUL people
"How in the world can someone so well informed still believe police were killed Jan 6?"
He isn't that well informed?
Bill displayed, to me, an example of inch deep, mile wide knowledge on the Iran nuke deal.
The monitoring was virtually non-existent and what there was turned out to be blocked on several occasions.
Iran, awash in oil needed a nuclear POWER program as they proclaimed while they enriched uranium well beyond what was needed for reactors? But sure, Bill, THAT was your chosen example of why Orange Man (policies) Bad.
I find Maher so unfunny and so dumb, and gross, I have no idea what people see in him. Maybe they're desperate for comedy and half-way intelligent talk, and Maher is there, so they settle for it.
Maher should have rephrased his statement as: "As someone who has voted for Carter, Dukasis, Mondale, Clinton, Gore, Obama, Biden, Hillary, and Harris, I could never have sat down and had a dinner with any of them".
Trump just likes talking to people. Never forget he's not a politician. He's a billionaire who decided to run for office when he was a senior citizen. That's why he's comfortable having dinnner with Ye or Nick Fuentes and then having it with Bill Maher. Its also why he's willing to meet with Putin or the NK dictator. He doesn't see any harm in talking.
He'll believe what he wants to believe is a weird human inertial frame.
making fun of his comb-over
Diversitists will be Diversitists are queer and wicked by Choice.
Maher is just another Hollywood liberal/leftist. Give him a test on his political beliefs and you'd find he's not different than 90 percent of Entertainment Industry. BTW, was Maher making jokes about Biden being incompetent and senile prior to 1st debate? Was he making jokes about the Democrats being unpopular prior to November 2024?
I see his comments, and its just the standard "We don't need to change our product, just our marketing strategy".
Reminds me of how Peggy Noonan didn’t want to meet Trump because she just knew he’d overwhelm her defenses with his charm, she’d end up actually LIKING the man, and never trust herself to write about him again.
Maher had a gay old time, and now he's merry, and a little less somber.
Trump liberates the liberal from a progressive consensus, maybe, baby. #HateLovesAbortion
Trump spoke to Oprah about the need to Make America Great Again as early as the late 80s. Leftists have been teabagging Americans as the British empire once did, and Americans are ready to throw another tea party and dump their bags.
Politics aside, Maher confirms something I've learned gradually over the course of my entire private and public life: people who have no sense of humor are not to be trusted. As long as the Democratic Party is dominated by the "That's not funny!" crowd, they are not to be trusted.
The admission of discomfort talking to Clinton or Obama is the key point here for me. Most of our politicians have spent their whole lives being guarded, bland, and always "on." Trump benefits by not being a stiff.
That's good for Trump and Mahler, but politicians usually have a great deal of charm. People who were primed to hate politicians come away liking them (at least a little) after meeting them in person. Bill Clinton most famously had that effect on people. It's a skill that you can learn through trial and error and much practice. It's a skill that Bill's wife never quite picked up.
Ronald Reagan might have had a similar effect on Maher. Democrats may make the best Republicans (and the worst Democrats). While the nimbus or aura of a politician can have great effects on people, it's always been clear that the "real" or "deeper" private Trump is different from the character he plays on stage. The fact that Trump wasn't in politics his whole life helps. It means that he hasn't developed the off-putting mannerisms and cliches of the professional politician.
@Maynard, I agree with you about liking Maher because he tries to be honest. Well said.
I watched all of Ann's provided clip. Enjoyable. I don't watch Maher's show, and disagree with him on much, but there are areas of agreement.
I think the Greatest Show on Earth would be a 2 two person race for CA Gov 2026 D primary between Kamala Harris and Bill Maher.
Upon reflection, I think Maher would lose the 2026 CA Gov D primary to Kamala Harris. But, if he then decided to run as an Ind or an R, I predict he would pull off the upset of a limetime. CA needs sane leadership.
One of self-help books be peddled recently is the "Let Them Theory". Since hearing it explained, I wondered what would happen if people applied it to Trump. Trump is talking to Musk? The world's richest man won't be scared off by some Teslas's being burned and one of the world's richest men will talk to whomever he wants to regardless of how many Teslas are burned, so let them. If you want people to go electric - really want them to go electric - then don't spend your time making the process of owning and charging electric as unpleasant and dangerous as possible. Find a better candidate for the next election. Much easier and likely to succeed than convincing millions of people they were wrong to vote for Trump.
Quayle said...
It galls them to no end. Makes them worry that others might get the idea that our country could be run by citizen leaders, and we don’t really need life-long ambitious, studied, self-groomed blowhards.
This is why they tried to make an example of Trump through lawfare, etc. To dissuade anyone with wealth from doing the same. Like they are doing to Musk now.
That way, people with wealth have to go through the political class, empowering and funding it.
“How in the world can someone so well informed still believe police were killed Jan 6?”
The power of indoctrination. From the mass media, K-12 teachers, university professors and Democrat pols.
Would people stop acting like Bill Maher is "Dumb" or "ignorant". Look, this guy spends his entire day looking at the news and deciding what to joke and talk about. If you can spent a few minutes every day reading the news, and you know the truth, so does Maher. So he's not "Misinformed" - he's lying.
Clinton would probably be a PITA at dinner because he is a genuine policy wonk. If Maher brought up some policy he disagreed with, Clinton would probably spend the rest of the dinner defending the policy and trying to bring Maher around.
Trump is fine with just nodding, as if to acknowledge "ok, you disagree, you're a grown-ass man, I respect that. We've got other stuff to do right now - hey, how did your steak come out? Do you like the au gratin potatoes?"
(BTW, by "Clinton" above, I mean Bill. Who knows what Hilary would do if confronted with disagreement at dinner. Nothing good.)
JSM
If you can spent a few minutes every day reading the news, and you know the truth, so does Maher. So he's not "Misinformed" - he's lying.
I think you underestimate the power of the media to convince liberals of their lies. The "dead police" at J6 is a good example.
Moderate people on the center-left are the primary focus of the lying leftwing media.
Some people got so used to fake politicians, when the real MacCoy finally comes along, they mistake him for a fake.
Trump didn't prove it's easy to become President, try it. He only proved he is exceptional, and it's well within his ability. All the people convinced they are smarter and more capable than him must be impervious to evidence. A lot of people have the ability to convince themselves they are capable of things they never could accomplish if only they got the opportunity, but that is the first test, and only the entry fee.
Who among them thinks they could overcome having the President, his political party, the DOJ, FBI, CIA, Hollywood, academia, most of the media and half the country against them trying to stop him at any cost. Who could beat all that, and come out stronger? Go ahead, tell me who would even take that challenge, because Trump did, and did it voluntarily. I'm not a humble guy, but he humbles me.
"So he's not "Misinformed" - he's lying."
Sometimes, but I've often seen him completely surprised by guests who bring counter arguments and facts that are widely known on the right. He's not well-informed enough to understand the other side's arguments.
I've read more than one account of people who met with Trump before he entered politics, expecting that he would behave like a rich entitled jerk and were surprised to find that he was actually a very nice guy. One time, it was someone who was interviewing him about The Apprentice, and Trump was delayed but took some extra time when he got there to redo the interview until they got a good version. The interviewer said that Trump could not have been nicer.
This guy wasn't too happy about it.
Maher’s admission and review of key issues “We needed to fix the border”, “we went too far on DEI”, “Europe needed to pay more of their defense costs”, “We needed to stop spending “ and “Boys shouldn’t be allowed to play in girls sports” were exactly the reason Trump was elected. It was actually a subtle endorsement of Trump.
I'm surprised somebody hasn't pointed out that Hitler could be quite charming when he wanted to be.
making his time “real”
face only mother could love
sad fucked-out shorty
I loved it when Ben Domenech left him looking like the confused opossum in “The Fantastic Mr.Fox”.
Surprise, surprise. DJT is a friendly man. And the MSM slanders of him 24/7 for the last 10 years are as false as it gets.
Sounds like maher has not been led by those few hours to rethink his own positions. I hope he frames and displays the autographed insults as a reminder of the mind of the guy he's dealing with.
Maher’s admission and review of key issues.... What I noticed during that litany of issues is how the audience agreed with him. No push back!
DJT sabotaging his own brand with any association with idiots like "Kid" Rock (age 54) and a distinctly unfunny stand-up comedian & political commentator like Bill Mahr is just as awful and as the Dem politicals and their Hollywood showbiz groupies are. So why does he do it? You would think he'd know better but then again it's Blorrmf America's orange-complected double-president with his own Hollywood blvd star. FTP.
Maher's brand is based on finding a consensus position left of center that won't offend his masters. Meeting Trump has made that more difficult.
Bob Boyd: "If Maher had given a moment's thought to Trumps life and accomplishments, he wouldn't have been surprised."
Precisely. Also- how many years have so many of us heard stories about Trump with 'the little people', some guy or gal who works for him, down in the bowels of one of his hotels, or in an office building or somewhere, where he is out of the public eye, away from cameras, just talking and listening to the other guy, the 'small people'. Giving his time, talking earnestly, listening actively with them. Doesn't need to be nice or do things for people. But he is, and he does. We used to call guys like him a mensch.
He's just nasty to those who fight him. That's who he is.
Readering said...
"Sounds like maher has not been led by those few hours to rethink his own positions. I hope he frames and displays the autographed insults as a reminder of the mind of the guy he's dealing with."
And that is why, Readering, you will never be a success.
I have a somewhat mentally ill sister-in-law who says and writes the most poisonous, provocative things to members our family over the telephone or by text and email, but has never once in more than twenty years been anything less than absolutely charming in countless face-to-face conversations. It is as though she is two separate people and distance and proximity causes her to switch back and forth between her two personalities.
I thought of her listening to Maher’s account of the Trumps he’s experienced.
I'm surprised he said that about Clinton. Was it Bill that would make him cautious or was it Hillary? I'm betting the latter.
Maher reminds me of James McAvory's character, Nicholas Garrigan, in the film "The Last King of Scotland." A well-meaning but naïve fool who willfully turns a blind eye to Amin's treachery out of some misplaced consequentialist notion of a common good.
Post a Comment
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.