Bill Maher, having spent years of bashing Donald Trump for, well, everything, had dinner at the White House with Trump and also with Robert Ritchie - the redneck rapper known as Kid Rock - a few days ago. Maher said that he was hoping to come to an understanding with Trump and some sense of détente in today's political environment. Or some hogwash like that.
"I mean, Trump is one of the most effective politicians, whatever you think of the policy and him as a person," Maher said after the dinner. "Just him as a politician, just understanding that [you should] always lean in to being more who you are." Maher also added that he was amazed how the Democrats had tried in vain for decades to find someone like that (hey, Bill, ever hear of Barack Obama? Joe Biden?). From all accounts, Bill had a good time, while his now-former fans were just plain had.
Maher's capitulation to Trump is only the latest in a series of high-profile post-election knee-bending exercises that began with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski making their November 15 pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago. As the comedic equivalent to Scarborough's and Brzezinski's journalistic transgression, this was even more painful than Joe and Mika's stunt, because Maher was speaking truth to power long before those two started doing so. He repeatedly called out George Walker Bush during his Presidency, and he wasn't afraid to call out Barack Obama whenever he got something wrong. Now he's joined a whole host of once-reputable public figures in, having once correctly dismissed Trump as another Hitler and MAGA as Nazis, embracing Trump out of fear of losing their standings, their careers, and possibly, to be fair and honest, their lives. But mostly their standings and their careers, as the only people rounded up by Trump's secret police and sent to a Salvadoran concentration camp so far are undocumented immigrants and even some documented immigrants, though that could change. (I had feared that Trump would round up people he perceived to be a threat to his regime and send them to a concentration camp in North Dakota. The only thing inaccurate about that prediction is that the camp isn't in North Dakota.)
Perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised at Maher dining with Trump. Because even though he has progressive politics, Maher seems to support progressive policies for all the wrong reasons. He's pro-choice; maybe that's because he's afraid of impregnating his girlfriend du jour. He's pro-immigration, mainly because he's admitted to having a thing for "Latin chicks." (So did John Wayne.) He's consistently bashed all forms of religion, going after Catholicism, the faith of his birth, and Islam, both of which are known for patriarchy and misogyny . . . but I sometimes wonder if he only takes pot shots at the Vatican to deflect from his pot shots at Mecca, which, unlike Vatican-bashing, is still a no-no among progressives, who believe that Islam demands respect, if only because so many brown people adhere to it.
It's quite galling, really, to see so many celebrated figures, many of whom likely supported Kamala Harris for President, pretend that Harris never even existed (refusing to acknowledge your party's most recent failed presidential nominee, of course, is nothing new for Democrats) in a rush to make nice with Trump. As the latest celebrity to bend the knee to Trump, Maher hoped to find common ground with Donald (presumably, their common lust for women), but all he found was an angry bunch of former fans deserting him; and he lost his credibility as a comedian and as an entertainer.
I don't have HBO anymore (not because of Maher, my household dropped premium cable long ago), but I notice that Bill Maher's HBO show is now available on CNN, which is part of the conglomerate that owns HBO. (Maybe that was the reason for Bill burying the hatchet with Donald - to please his corporate bosses.) I'll pass, thanks. I'm as done with him as I am with Joe and Mika.
I can't stand Bill Maher. He's really a disappointment.
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