Bill Maher Says He Stopped the 'Cheap Shots' at Trump After Heated White House Meeting: 'I Don't Have to Go There'

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Bill Maher shared he stopped taking cheap shots at President Donald Trump after they had a heated in-person meeting at the White House earlier this year.

The comedian opened up about his one-on-one with the president during Monday’s episode of “Club Random With Bill Maher,” where Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, appeared as a guest.

As Maher detailed to the Republican National Committee co-chair, he eased off certain digs against the president after the latter exploded at him for making orangutang comparisons.

“I’ll tell you this, I’ve never said this publicly, but it’s true,” Maher recalled. “We went into the little merch room after the Oval Office. And he started yelling at me about the bit I did many years ago about the orangutang.”

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/bill-maher-says-stopped-cheap-030650390.html

Threatened to break your knees?

[Johnny2X2X]

1. Coward

He's a coward worried about being jailed for what he says.

[TheBlackAdder]

15. I guess he won't be making fun of people who kiss Trump's ring anymore.

Yeah, what a coward is right.

[UpInArms]

2. Fuck yourself with a chainsaw

Maher … you are a coward as well as being an egotistical arse

[Goonch]

3. ;-{) Real Time with Bill Maher:

[PatSeg]

25. Back when Maher was relevant

AND funny.

[nini]

4. Seems to me that justifies continuing to call him out

I guess we all know what blowhard bully he is himself, not that most people didn't know that already

[moniss]

5. The idea that Maher would do this is

predictable and in keeping with his self-serving conduct throughout his career.

[LR3]

6. Keith Olbermann had this piece of shit pegged

all the way back in college

[Abolishinist]

39. Would that be the same Keith Olbermann who made disgusting comments about those fundraising for childhood cancer?

Who was suspended for his controversial remarks about Penn State on Twitter?

On Twitter, Olbermann got into it with students and fans over the school's annual pediatric cancer fundraiser called "Thon." The Penn State dance Marathon known as "Thon" began Friday night at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College and wound up at 4 p.m. Sunday. Hundreds took part in the annual dance marathon over the weekend which raised more than $13 million for pediatric cancer research and care.

The fund's mission is to conquer childhood cancer by assisting children treated at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. The fund ensures that all expenses a family incurs are covered, from medical bills to gas and food money and household living expenses.

A PSU alum sent Olbermann a tweet saying "We Are!" with a link to the news on the Thon.

That's when Olbermann responded "pitiful."

Who threatened CNN commentator Scott Jennings with “you’re next motherf—er,” in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination?

Whose romantic partners have included Fox broadcaster Laura Ingraham, former US Senator Kyrsten Sinema, MSNBC anchor Katy Tur, and Olivia Nuzzi?

[SocialDemocrat61]

40. Did Olbermann hang out with a sexual predator too?

[Abolishinist]

44. Diversion.

When someone tries to score points by dragging in a third party, the bare minimum is that the third party not be laughably flawed. Otherwise their argument collapses under the weight of its own irony.

I figured that was obvious, but I guess I’m guilty of assuming too much.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

47. You were the one that diverted n/t

[Abolishinist]

49. How so?

I’m really just looking for a response grounded in logic and reason — wild concept, I know.

If there’s an actual argument behind what you said, feel free to walk me through it. I’d love to see how the dots connect.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

53. Sea lions are cool!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rFcWIl4Jzrc

[Abolishinist]

61. They truly are! And I can certainly tell the difference between a sea lion and a seal!

We live 500 yards from the ocean as the seagull flies, it's only a 15-minute walk from our house to the Coast Walk Trail. I used to go there from time-to-time for my morning walk, and it was just last week that I told myself to do this more often. Here's a view from our back yard...



Continue on from the Trail for a beautiful 10-minute walk along the coast and you end up where the sea lions hang out at La Jolla Cove. Unfortunately, there is an ongoing problem with people, usually tourists, who get too close to them to shoot their selfies. We've had some pups die because of that.



Yeah, I've gotta go there more often. No excuse, it's only an 8-minute drive. Here's a good article on the Cove from the L.A. Times.

https://archive.ph/wYeD6

[SocialDemocrat61]

51. Lol

[Abolishinist]

70. So do you concur with the statement that Maher

is a waste of time for anybody with a hint of decency and intelligence?

[SocialDemocrat61]

72. This Bill Maher?

[Walleye]

7. Bill Maher is a weenie

[31st Street Bridge]

10. With orange lips

Orange Lips Maher

[Walleye]

11. 🎃

[Jim__]

8. I guess it's 'politically incorrect' for Maher to attack Trump.

[Walleye]

12. Good one!

[Wednesdays]

9. But cheap shots at Democrats are still okay, I guess?

[FakeNoose]

55. Of course, Maher is a both-sider all the way

It's just that we never hear about the insults he makes at the Repukes' expense.

[W_HAMILTON]

60. Do you have his apology for all the cheapshots he took at Biden?

[Kingofalldems]

13. And yet every Friday we get the latest Maher fan page right here on DU.

[AStern]

19. I'll be watching!

[SocialDemocrat61]

32. Isn't there a forum rule

against promoting right wing sources?

[Kingofalldems]

38. Yes.

[underpants]

14. Hold on. I thought he had a wonderful dinner

Bill must be a cheap date. He has one dinner with the guy and has been blowing him for months since.

What the hell would anyone want to know about from Laura Trump?

[Paladin]

16. Confirms every bad feeling I've ever had about him.

What a clueless, wrong-headed, untalented, fascist-enabling, sack of shit he is. So glad I stopped watching him, years ago. Thanks to DUers for the ongoing reports on his shows---more than enough information to confirm that Maher is a waste of time for anybody with a hint of decency and intelligence.

[Abolishinist]

69. Saying Maher is a waste of time

for anybody with a "hint of decency and intelligence" is a repulsive swipe at many DU members, who as far as I know vote blue, canvass, donate, show up to vote, and engage others on this site in discussing politics and other topics.

And what I find to be the most disgusting is that you are flat-out saying a long-time member of DU, who has close to 250,000 posts, has served many times on MIRT, and devotes countless hours posting articles for discussion, lacks decency and intelligence. Are you proud of that?

Plenty of us can find Maher irritating at times and still value certain guests, panels, policy discussions, or viewpoints we don’t always get elsewhere.

Hopefully there are others on this site who agree with me.

Maher is a waste of time for anybody with a hint of decency and intelligence.

[Abolishinist]

82. That you decline to comment says everything.

It’s always inspiring when someone claims to care about electing Democrats and then immediately declares that anyone who watches a certain show on HBO is morally and intellectually defective.

Nothing says ‘big tent party’ like telling your own side they’re indecent and stupid.

Let me know when you get to the part where alienating allies helps us beat Republicans.

[Nictuku]

17. Did I read that right?

There is a "Merch Room" in the Whitehouse?

Sickening!

[GaYellowDawg]

22. That drew my attention, too!

No such thing as too small a scale when it comes to Trump and grifting.

[Shellback Squid]

18. " He shared he's gotten quite a bit of flak from the left over his visit with Trump, confessing "the people who hate me

hate me for it never let me forget it.”

no, we've hated you for years

[Prairie Gates]

20. Fuck Bill Maher

[Cha]

21. Oh? Exposing the truth about what Traitor

says and does is now "a cheap shot" at the Neo fucking Nazi? ?

Fuck Off, groveling asshole.

[democratsruletheday]

23. I call him BM cuz that's what he is...literally and figuratively

He's also a smarmy, feckless, shit weasel.

[Intractable]

24. Cheap shot: about Bill Maher's show, 'I Don't Have to Go There'

[LetMyPeopleVote]

26. Who is surprised by this?

Maher ceased to be funny a long time ago and I am not surprised that he is going easy on trump.

[Emile]

27. The Phony Liberalism of Bill Maher

https://fair.org/home/the-phony-liberalism-of-bill-maher/

[Dear_Prudence]

28. An answer to "Quiet, Piggy":

"Zip it, Orangutan."

[TommieMommy]

29. Bill is an ass 👎👎

[SocialDemocrat61]

30. This Bill Maher?

[themaguffin]

31. "mUh tHis mUh biLl mAhEr?"

Last edited Sat Nov 29, 2025, 05:12 PM - Edit history (1)

(insert random photo here that's supposed to a flex)

[BannonsLiver]

33. He also says he's happy to "see PBS and NPR go..."

I wonder if his DU fanbase agrees and if not, when is it enough to finally ditch this out of date dipshit.

[Blue Owl]

34. I'll tell you where you can go, Bill

[QueerDuck]

37. Wait, wait... I think i know. Let me guess.

👹🔥

[Scrivener7]

35. I really think Bill Maher is employing some kind of twitter-style PR campaign that

puts him at the top of social media feeds or google searches.

He's a C-List guy that no one really likes or cares about, and yet he's suddenly all over DU.

Too coincidental to not be engineered.

[Sympthsical]

50. Nothing so involved required

Someone's been having a meltdown for months (in a totally normal way) about one weekly mention by one person, and it's been ramping up into the current preoccupation because they finally got the tiniest bit of pushback about the weirdness of it.

People who hate the guy seem to spend far, far, far more time discussing him than the people who watch the show.

It's the Howard Stern effect. I'd think much less often of the man if he wasn't mentioned every other day.

It's like telling people to stop thinking about ice cream.

You're just going to end up with ice cream in your head.

Edit: And let's be honest. Half the time it isn't about him. It's about people watching him and the heretical nature of it. Not really into people trying to comb my mind for purity. And I don't recall an election where we appointed witch hunters. So pass on all of it.

On the plus side, the more it spirals, the funnier I think it is.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

54. jesus, no

LOL

[Scrivener7]

63. But at this point the threads are all started by different people.

[Sympthsical]

65. Because ragebait is circulating

He had Lara Trump on his podcast, and that is a layup if you're in the online media ecosystem that people on the Left consume.

Anything that circulates there gets pulled here.

And since people have been malding over Maher recently already, pulling all these stories in was extra topical.

It's a shame. Just ignoring him would serve people far better. Haters do more to promote his show than the average viewer does.

I honestly don't get it. Of all the people. This guy is DU's bugaboo. Meanwhile a certain world class misogynist gets promoted here all the time, particularly when he's having a go at women.

I don't even watch Maher that much. New Rules most of the time. Haven't seen an entire hour of his show probably since spring or so. But the fixation is so disproportionate. It's delightfully entrancing in an extremely strange way.

[Scrivener7]

66. I guess. But yes, of all people. Such a nothing. Maybe I'll start posting John Oliver ragebait.

Much better use of our time.

[Sympthsical]

68. Only if its his deconstructions of Air Bud!

[tblue37]

77. Which world class misogynist? (Just curious.)

[Sympthsical]

80. Olbermann

His behavior and attitudes towards women is . . . an entire thing.

But because people like his politics, they cheerfully overlook what are unmistakable patterns of behavior. I've never liked the guy, so I'm kind of whatever about it. I just think it's weird he's somehow squeezed his way back into the ecosystem after burning every bridge that exists on earth.

He's a pariah for a reason.

[tblue37]

83. Oh. I never followed him closely, so I was not aware of this.

[Abolishinist]

84. Someone's been having a meltdown for months 'in a totally normal way' made me think of this...

Last edited Tue Dec 2, 2025, 09:03 PM - Edit history (2)

Thanks for the memory jog, I'm putting this on my watch-again list!

We saw 'Remembering Gene Wilder' earlier in the year, a private showing by our local Cinema Society. Prior to the movie, in a smaller venue, Karen Boyer gave a very touching Q&A about her deceased husband. He really seemed to be a wonderful person (she as well).

I highly recommend watching this!

[Clouds Passing]

36. Arrogant coward!

[B.See]

41. "don't have to go there" Translation:

He threatened my azz and I went BELLY UP.

[Beetwasher.]

42. Trump's Got Your Dirt, huh Bill?

Extortionist will extort.

[Tree Lady]

46. He probably threatened to take him

Off the air and Bill folded although since covid and how long it took to get his solar Bill has become the old cranky guy.

Mostly covid it stopped him traveling and partying with his friends, he lives alone, no girlfriend so I think his loneliness got him bitter.

[Initech]

43. Hey you shouldn't have tried to patronize this scumbag, Bill.

[Oneironaut]

45. He's become such a sad shell of his former self.

He attacks Liberals and Progressives because it’s easy. Maher stands for absolutely nothing.

It’s ok for him to continue to make cheap shots at trans people, though. So brave!

Maher is just another smooch ass for this country’s institutions now. He’s no different than the other people who are lining up for real estate on Trump’s butt.

[gulliver]

48. Maher really is based

It's a good decision not to take cheap shots at Trump. Cheap shots and gut level fulminations only backfire at this point. They've been used so many times that they simply bounce off Trump and make whoever uses them look like a broken record (at best).

Our side needs to focus on (as Maher says) bridges. We need unity. Your brother-in-law may chew his food with his mouth open sometimes, but he's going to help you move your new freezer to the basement later today.

[W_HAMILTON]

52. Fuck that. We aren't the ones who ran on dividing the nation...

...and it shouldn't be up to us to fix it, even though our recent Democratic presidential candidates have promoted such a message during their campaigns.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

58. "...they simply bounce off *rump..."

While I agree his excessive blubber is bouncy, NOTHING bounces off him. He holds grudges forever and his eggshell ego is the size of Brazil.

Note his daily "unhinged" fake twitter posts.

He deserves every "cheap shot" he gets. There's no building bridges with a narcissistic psychopath.

[SamuelTheThird]

62. Your brother in law might be racist, but he can help clean your garage...............

[gulliver]

64. Yes, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

...and "racism" can be that way too. That can produce situations where the term is overused and carries no impact or actually discredits the speaker and anyone the speaker claims to speak for... It becomes yet another example of the boy who cried wolf.

[SamuelTheThird]

67. You think the accusation of racism is very much overused?

hmmm, where have I heard that one before....

[Crunchy Frog]

56. Well that's the role of comedians in our society.

Kissing the asses of those in power.

No wonder he's so popular around here.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

57. "We went into the little merch room after the Oval Office."

Oh. The little merch room.

Imagine this casual comment made during a Democratic presidency.

MAGAt heads:

[ificandream]

71. Maher would hate to hear it, but he's really irrelevant now.

True story: I was at a Beatles convention in L.A. years ago in the dealer's room looking through some albums and Maher walked in and started going through albums at the same dealer I was at. Briefly exchanged greetings and that was all.

I used to be a big fan. Not anymore, though.

[Red Mountain]

73. Jesus FC

This is easy.

Maher=Graham

1. Visits Trump

2. Heart to heart

3. Maher stops talking shit about Trump.......just like Leslie did


Trump has something on Bill. Kompromat. Trump didn't spend all that time hanging around with Jeffrey and not learn anything. His Russian buddies probably helped.

Maher would be even easier than Graham to set up......just given what they do for a living.

[Red Mountain]

74. Guests need to keep asking

what Trump has on him.

[Takket]

75. are you fucking kidding me?

Do you know how many threads i've seen on DU over the last 15-20 years about how "bill marr says blah blah blah about how Democrats are doing cancel culture and ruining America"

and we all just smile and say "first amendment", and then this fuck face goes and actually gets screamed at by drumpf and then he shuts up??????????????

FUCK YOU MAHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SSJVegeta]

76. But hes cool with his anyi Islam hate speech?

[misanthrope]

78. No, he stopped because he is scared of Trump

Once Trump got him alone and showed his temper, Maher came to heel.

[Abstractartist]

79. Pissh

Maher…. Hahaha is he still on?

[Boo1]

81. Doesn't seem like many read the article.

Because it just says that he stopped making jokes about Trumps looks.