Bill Maher brushes off liberal critics ahead of Trump meeting
Comedian Bill Maher is planning a White House meeting with Donald Trump, facilitated by Kid Rock, despite years of political criticism.
Straight Arrow News
For Bill Maher, Larry David’s hot take on his meeting with President Donald Trump was just plain cold.
During an April 24 interview on “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” the comedian and TV host, 69, got candid about his response to David’s satirical essay in The New York Times, which appeared to skewer Maher’s recent meeting with the president at the White House.
The April 21 article is a fictional piece written from the perspective of a person who had dinner with Adolf Hitler in 1939 and came away impressed that the Nazi leader was so personable, despite having been a “vocal critic of his on the radio from the beginning.”
“This wasn’t my favorite moment of our friendship. I think the minute you play the ‘Hitler’ card, you’ve lost the argument,” Maher told host Piers Morgan.
Maher, a longtime critic of Trump, met with the commander in chief on March 31 and gave a full recap of their encounter during an episode of his talk show, “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
Maher said that while he maintains his criticisms of the president, Trump defied his expectations with his gracious and measured demeanor.
David, who is Jewish, never mentioned Maher or Trump in the essay, but the language he used closely mirrored the way the “Real Time” host spoke about his dinner with Trump.
Bill Maher on why Larry David essay was ‘insulting’
In his interview with Morgan, Maher criticized the inappropriateness of David’s Hitler comparison.
“First of all, it’s kind of insulting to 6 million dead Jews,” Maher said. “Look, maybe it’s not completely logically fair, but Hitler has really kind of got to stay in his own place. He is the GOAT of evil. And we’re just going to have to leave it like that.”
He added: “I don’t need to be lectured on who Donald Trump is. Just the fact that I met him in person didn’t change that. The fact that I reported honestly is not a sin either.”
Maher also shared he hasn’t spoken with David, 77, since the publication of his essay. USA TODAY has reached out to representatives of David for comment.
“I don’t want to make this constantly personal with me and Larry. We might be friends again,” Maher concluded. “I can take a shot, and I also can absolutely take it when people disagree with me. … If I can talk to Trump, I can talk to Larry David, too.”
Contributing: Brendan Morrow and KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
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