Instead of a love letter, Bill Maher received a long-winded rant from the president for Valentine’s Day.
While Maher has made it clear that he has no ill will toward Donald Trump, it appears the feeling is not mutual. In a Saturday morning Truth Social post, Trump ripped into Maher, calling his show Real Time with Bill Maher “Very boring, ANTI TRUMP.”
The president slammed the comedian for taking one of his jokes seriously. He also took the opportunity to take jabs at Canada and China in the 493-word post.
“It was a total waste of time for me to have this jerk at the White House and last night, after explaining what a DISASTER Canadian ‘Leaders’ are to deal with, how Canada has “ripped off” the United States for years on TRADE (But not anymore!), I jokingly stated in a TRUTH that, ‘The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup,’” Trump said on his social media site.
“Well, he went on and on about the Hockey statement, like ‘What kind of a person would say such a foolish thing as this,’ as though I were being serious when I said it,” the 79-year-old president complained.
He also said Maher was “slightly more talented than late night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, or Stephen Colbert, but stated he was ”a highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT.”
“Republicans should stop using him to show how the Left is coming over our way — Our Base, the Greatest of All Time, laughs at your weakness when you do it!" Trump continued. “Maher asked me if he could come back to the White House again and, with his friend, also asked to come to the wonderful White House Christmas Party, but he didn’t. Regardless, I’d much rather spend my time MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN than wasting it on him.”
'Real Time' host Bill Maher on Trump and Fox News' terrible Aretha Franklin tributes.
HBOThe Daily Beast reached out to representatives for Maher and the White House for comment.
The pair dined at the White House last April, after which Maher said Trump was “gracious and measured.” He also called the president “the most effective politician” in America.
Trump mocked Maher’s countenance at their White House meeting.
“He came into the famed Oval Office much different than I thought he would be,” the president wrote of Maher. “He was extremely nervous, had ZERO confidence in himself and, to soothe his nerves, immediately, within seconds, asked for a ‘Vodka Tonic.’ He said to me, ‘I’ve never felt like this before, I’m actually scared.’ In one respect, it was somewhat endearing!”
The talk show host also blasted critics who were upset that he took the dinner, including Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David. David had likened Maher breaking bread with Trump to dining with Hitler in a satirical essay for the New York Times. The Real Time host hit back, saying, “to use the Hitler thing, first of all, I just think it’s kind of insulting to six million dead Jews.”
Not long after he met with the president, Maher resumed criticizing him. He told the Free Press last May that the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency were a “s--tshow.”
“I said after he won the election, I’m not going to pre-hate anything,” he said. “But after 100 days, there are probably 100 things to legitimately hate, starting with disappearing people, the inefficiency of DOGE, ignoring the Supreme Court, killing people overseas with drastic aid cuts, firing the guy in charge of his election-integrity office because he won’t say 2020 was rigged.”
On Friday, Maher called out a “pattern” of personal dealmaking by Trump in exchange for political favors. The president has made an estimated $1.4 billion in the first year of his second term, including $867 million in crypto investments. During his show, Maher called crypto “money laundering.”
