Bill Maher lashed out at his guest Sean Penn during the latest episode of the Club Random podcast when the Hollywood star questioned his decision to dine with Trump.
Maher brought up his controversial dinner with Donald Trump, and Penn responded by raising concerns over how Maher had handled the visit to the White House. That prompted a furious response from Maher who attacked Madonna’s ex-husband over his own dining companions. “Really, you’ll meet with f---ing Castro and Hugo Chavez but not the President of the United States?” he asked.
Maher’s dinner with Trump, which was set up by their mutual friend Kid Rock, took place in April. At the time Maher defended the dinner by saying, “There’s got to be something better than hurling insults from 3000 miles away.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The two and a half hour dinner was then detailed on Real Time With Bill Maher, where Maher said they had discussed the Gaza War, Iran and Trump teasing a third-term presidency.
Over cigars, booze and cigarettes on Club Random, Maher asked Penn, “You do—I hope—think I did the right thing to have dinner with him?”
Penn said, “Absolutely, you’re so smart, you go there... look this is the President of the United States, whether we like it or not, it doesn’t matter. There’s a lot of reasons I was speculating that... it would be good for you to do that.”
The actor said he watched Maher cover the dinner on Real Time but wished it had been “less successful.”
Maher hit back at the suggestion he had painted Trump in a good light.
“It was less successful because I never stopped saying all the things I’ve always said about him,” Maher said. “It would have been successful if he had somehow seduced me into supporting him. So it wasn’t successful.”
Penn fired back that Maher could have done more “editing” in relaying the details of dinner, suggesting the host could have simply said, “He treated me fine, that’s that.”
The actor has humanitarian, journalistic and political interests outside of his movie career, including tracking down Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman in his hideaway to try and tie up a movie deal.
Penn said he had never been invited to dinner with Trump. “The only reason I would not accept an invitation is... it’s a long flight,” he said.
Maher then clapped back, “Really, you’ll meet with f---ing Castro and Hugo Chavez but not the President of the United States?”
The Oscar-winner has had well-documented meetings with Cuban president Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl and firebrand Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.
Penn stumbled slightly before replying “I, I, saw good results come out of some of those things...”
When Maher interjected, Penn clarified, “I just personally wouldn’t trust anything that was said in the room including personality.”
Maher hit back, “It’s not a matter of trusting it, it’s a matter of seeing it, a matter of experiencing it, knowing it... I’m telling you, there’s a very different guy behind closed doors in a different setting.”
Maher went on to say he could try to broker Penn an invite to a Trump dinner in the future, to potentially discuss political or charity issues.
“I would not fool myself that... I was going to get anywhere with him,” Penn squirmed. “I know that I wouldn’t, I know that I would have no influence.”
Maher said Penn had a “bad attitude” and noted “I’ll tell you this about Donald Trump and you don’t know it because you don’t go to dinners... it’s all about personal relationships... I will get you an invite. He’s a starf---r in a way. I bet you he would like to meet you.”
