Did Maher Really Get PUNKED By Trump?

Bill Maher’s White House dinner became a case study in how charm and restraint can disarm even sharp critics and obscure the real dangers

Once, our intellectual feuds shaped the world: Voltaire and Rousseau debated human nature and governance; Sartre and Camus clashed over responsibility and resistance; James Baldwin faced off with William F. Buckley on race and morality; Einstein and Philipp Lenard, the pacifist vs. the Nazi, argued over science and ideology. These were thinkers whose disagreements defined eras.

Today, our public discourse is shaped by different kinds of duos — most recently, the comedians Bill Maher and Larry David. Maher, who recently claimed a “maybe” leadership of centrist-minded Americans, and David, who sharpened observational comedy into psychological art, now find themselves not only as cultural commentators but as foils for one another in a revealing exchange about power, persuasion, and political clarity.

Maher’s televised reflection on his “Real Time” about his March 31 White House dinner with Donald Trump — an extended monologue delivered with a sincerity that approached fawning — was followed by David’s acerbic parody this week in The New York Times, titled “My Dinner with Adolf.” Together, these offer a cautionary tale about how easily charm can obscure essence.

Let me just say that I am a huge fan of Maher’s. He’s erudite and funny, he is blazingly articulate and charismatic, and he shares my suspicion of both MAGA and the orthodox progressives. Hell, I wish he’d invite me onto his show. And his impulse, to engage despite the toxically polarized reality, is totally correct. But Maher’s framing of what transpired — his focus on Trump’s tone, his surprise at the president’s civility, and his conclusion that Trump is merely "playing a crazy person on TV" — misses the shocking reality that Trump has needlessly sparked a state of emergency all over the world.

I understand Maher wanted to be fair and open-minded – that’s his brand and normally I’m on board. But what he appears not to see is that he wasn’t witnessing Trump in an unguarded moment.