Comedian Bill Maher on Friday made public his plans to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House – a visit arranged by none other than Kid Rock.
But, as Maher expected, the move has set off a wave of fury among his liberal critics, who called the late-night host out for agreeing to meet with the subject of his years-long ridicule.
“There will be lots of people on the left who will be like, how dare you talk to this man?” Maher said in an upcoming episode of his podcast, “Club Random,” as reported by the Daily Beast.
The longtime host of HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” added in the podcast episode out Sunday: “I’m not playing this game that you mean girls play, where they’re like ‘Oh, you know what? You can’t sit at my lunch table because I’m just not talking to you.”
But the unexpected meet-and-greet between Trump and Maher spurred a heavy amount of scorn across social media.
“I respect @billmaher, and my whole mantra is sitting down with anyone, but this is a b---s--- business move by Maher,” former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) wrote in a lengthy post blasting Maher on X. “I would never sit down with Trump. Trump is purposely ignorant & cruel, he lies as he breathes, and he tried to overthrow an American election. Trump is our democracy’s enemy.”
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The former Republican lawmaker and presidential candidate later added on Bluesky: “Shame on you Bill Maher.”
Political scientist Norm Orstein, a contributing editor for The Atlantic, expressed his disapproval with Maher’s move when he replied to Walsh: “Maybe you should reconsider respect for him.”
“No surprise,” actor/writer John Rocha told his X followers. “Spotlight lovers like Bill Maher (who spent YEARS ridiculing Trump) are so enamored with Trump’s power that they’re now willing to kiss his ring and crap on their anti-Trump stances. AOC and Bernie are the only ones out here with GUTS speaking truth to power.”
“Dedicated sickos remember when Donald Trump sued Bill Maher for $5 million in 2013 for comparing him to an orangutan,” Decision Desk HQ contributor Nick Field reminded his followers on X.
Writer Dianne Callahan told her followers on X that Maher’s plans were a “Big mistake!”