Bill Maher hits raw nerve with detailed warning of Trump's 'slow-moving coup'

When "Real Time" host Bill Maher cautions liberals and progressives against reacting to every offensive thing that President Donald Trump says and does, his point is that they should save their energy for Trump's most egregious actions. Maher had a lot to say about Trump during "Real Time's" Friday night, August 22 broadcast — warning that Trump's "slow-moving coup" may prevent Democrats from ever running the federal government again no matter how many supporters they have.

Maher told his guests, "If there was a slow-moving coup, let me just describe some of the steps — and you tell me if I'm being paranoid. First, create a masked police force. Get people used to looking at that. Normalize snatching people off the street. Get them used to looking at that. Normalize seeing the National Guard and the military on the street. Then, start talking about crime in the capital, which has always been a fairly crime-ridden city."

The "Real Time" host warned that Trump's militarization of U.S. cities could put Democrats at a major disadvantage in the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential race.

"So, you have, in the capital, a sort of permanent police presence," Maher argued. "So when an election dispute might come up, just hypothetically — I mean, I don't want to be a big pessimist. And I'm going to pretend, for the rest of the duration, that the Democrats do have a chance of winning, and they might win the next election. I just don't think they're ever going to take power. Because this is what's going to happen. Because I think this coup is going to go off a lot smoother than the last one."

Maher's comments are generating a lot of responses on X, formerly Twitter.

Some X users resent Maher for meeting with Trump in the White House earlier this year.

Sean McDaniel wrote, "Was @billmaher saying that to Trump during their Big Beautiful Dinner they had when he was delightful and insightful? Conned. A sucker born every minute."

But others were glad to see Maher sounding the alarm.

X user Michael Beckerman posted, "Trump is now slowly turning up the heat in the pot so the frog in it doesn't even realize it's been cooked. Guess who the frog is?"

The Democratic group Blue Georgia highlighted Maher's comments, tweeting, "Bill Maher warns of a 'slow-moving coup' — masked police, troops in DC, federalized forces setting up a permanent security state so even if Dems win, Trump won’t give up power. 'The next coup will go a lot smoother than the last one.'"

Watch the full video below or at this link.