We came to dinner. Me, Bill, Dana White, and, And it could not have been better. Everyone was so surprised. So so pleasant. How about this President Trump, you know, extending this olive branch and like and we talked about things we had in common, you know, ending wokeness. [00:00:16] You know, you know, securing the border. You know, the president was asking him what he thought about policy, you know, going on with Iran and Israel and things. It was it just it blew my mind. It was I was I was, you know, very, very proud. I think it takes so little to blow someone's ego up, especially [00:00:33] when they already had one to begin with. Maybe that's what's going on here. Last month, mega superstar kid Rock facilitated a dinner between himself, UFC President Dana White, President Donald Trump and avid Trump critic Bill Maher. [00:00:50] Interesting dinner conversation, perhaps. Apparently it went better than expected. Before we get into the details about the dinner, I wonder what they served. What were your initial thoughts, your reactions when you heard about Bill [00:01:08] Maher getting invited to the white House? Yeah, I think it makes perfect sense. If I was Bill Maher, I'd go. I'll defend him all the way on ongoing. Of course, what happened at the dinner is relevant. So let's find out what happened and then judge that as well. [00:01:24] Okay. Let's do it. While the dinner was, two weeks ago at this point, Bill Maher opened up about the experience on this past Friday's episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, and he laid everything out on the table for his audience transparency, [00:01:39] if you will. As you know, 12 days ago I had dinner with President Trump, a dinner that had been set up by my friend kid Rock, because we share a belief that there's got to be something better than hurling insults from 3000 miles away. Let me first say that to all the people who treated this like it [00:01:56] was some kind of summit meeting. You're ridiculous. Like I was going to sign a treaty or something. I have no power. I'm an effing comedian and he's the most powerful leader in the world. I'm not the leader of anything, except maybe a contingent of centrist minded people who think there's got to be a better way of running this country [00:02:14] than hating each other every minute. So how did the dinner go? Well, off the bat, this dinner could have gone very badly. Seeing as Mar brought a list of at least 60 names Trump has called him in the past, so can you imagine? [00:02:33] I don't know that that would even embarrass Donald Trump. But Trump was a good sport about it, apparently. Signing it and having a grand old time. So they got along. Began with some jokes, some levity. Just for starters, he laughs. I've never seen him laugh in public, but he does, including at himself. [00:02:52] And it's not fake. Believe me, as a comedian of 40 years, I know a fake laugh when I hear it. I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him. And honestly, I voted for Clinton and Obama. I would never feel comfortable talking to them the way I was able to talk [00:03:09] with Donald Trump. That's just how it went down. Make it what you will. It's emblematic of why the Democrats are so unpopular these days. So the personalities he vibes with one over perhaps the others. [00:03:27] Stereotyping, but perhaps living up to it. Wasn't all jokes and laughter. They also touched on some serious subjects and pressing issues, which he did challenge President Trump on. According to Maher, there were so many moments when. [00:03:42] Well, I hit him with a joke, contradicted something, and no problem. At dinner he was asking me about the nuclear situation in Iran in a very genuine, hey, I think you're a smart guy. I want your opinion sort of way. I said, well, obviously you're privy to things about it, and I'm not. [00:03:59] But for what it's worth, I thought the Obama deal was worth letting play out because we made Iran ran destroy 98% of the uranium, and they were 15 years away from a bomb. And then I said to him, well, we got rid of that. [00:04:15] You got rid of that? He didn't get mad or call me a left wing lunatic. He took it in. So there was that. And there were also some things that they agreed on, including the border needing to be controlled, cops die, going too far, etc.. [00:04:33] Seems like they got along fabulously. And some way somehow more sort of changed his tune on Trump. Why can't we get the guy I met to be the public guy? I'm not saying it's our responsibility to do that. [00:04:49] It's not. I'm just reporting exactly what I saw over 2.5 hours. A crazy person doesn't live in the white House. Person who plays a crazy person on TV a lot lives there, which I know is effed up. It's not as effed up as I thought it was. So there you have it. [00:05:07] You can hate me for it, but I'm not a liar. Trump was gracious, measured, and why he isn't that in other settings? I don't know and I can't answer. It's not my place to answer. I'm just telling you what I saw and I wasn't high. [00:05:23] Now, he clarified that he did not go full MAGA following the dinner and is still a staunch liberal, but he does view Trump in a different light now, it seems. Look, I get it. [00:05:39] Doesn't matter who he is at a private dinner with a comedian. It matters who he is on the world stage. I'm just, you know, taking taking it to positive that this person exists. Because everything I've ever not liked about him was, I swear to God, absent, [00:05:55] at least on this night with this guy. Do you find this fascinating and a worthwhile observation? Tell all by Bill Maher Jang. Do we need to know this? [00:06:14] Do we need to understand this side of Donald Trump? Is that supposed to give us comfort or just, I guess. - What's your takeaway? - Yeah. Okay. So some mixed thoughts on it, but I get it. And overall, I'm in favor of it. So, number one, meeting with the president is not a problem at all. [00:06:32] I don't care who the president is. If I have an opportunity to meet with the president, I will. In fact, if he's on the opposing side, I might want to meet with him more. Is there anything I could do that that helps a little bit? Like, sometimes people straw man. And they go, oh, my God, if you meet with the president and he [00:06:48] doesn't walk out a completely changed man, then it was worthless. And it was a failure to get real. That's of course, that's not going to happen, right? But can you move him an inch? And moving the president an inch is a big deal, right? Can you get him to see a different perspective that he didn't see before? [00:07:06] Might that affect him down the road? You know, those are all mights and stuff, but it's a lot better than not trying. Like, what do you gain if you don't go to the dinner? Nothing. Like, what do you try if you don't go to the dinner? Nothing. I don't see how that helps. [00:07:21] So. Okay, then how did Bill do at the dinner? Well, look, you know, what he reported back is mixed news in there. I don't particularly care if Donald Trump is nice behind the scenes. Okay, great. God bless. There is one part of that I do care about, which is that when you're [00:07:36] with any Democratic leader, it's true. You're always walking on eggshells because ironically, they have thinner skin than Trump. Like, if you're not constantly, like, beseeching and enormously respectful and genuflecting and etc., they're like, I do decline. [00:07:53] Like the Democrats are obsessed with status obsessed. They're constantly looking at your, you know, social ranking where, oh, do you have a title? What kind of title are you a donor, what kind of donor? Etc. Whereas Trump's more like, oh, here's a guy in the room with me. Okay. What do you got? [00:08:09] What do you what do you think. Right. So that's that's better in my opinion. Okay. Okay. But that's small, right? But like. Okay. He was nice to you at the dinner or he's nice to me at a lunch or something. I don't care at all. That doesn't affect voters. And it doesn't affect what I think of Donald Trump, because what I care about [00:08:28] is how he acts as president. And to be fair to Mar, he's pointing out, yeah, when he's in public, he's a madman. And he is. So is it an act? Is it better if it's an act? If is it worse if it's an act, I don't know. All I care about is yes, but what does he do? [00:08:45] Right. And what he does as president so far is totally unhinged. Talking about sending, now American citizens to a dungeon in El Salvador from time to time, not listening to the courts is madness, right? So then, okay, now we get to the final and most important part, did Bill do any good there in some of the things that he brought up? [00:09:04] And I would argue, yes. So he he brought up several things and a couple I was surprised by. And so the, the fact that he plugged Obama's Iran deal. That's awesome that he's absolutely right about that. [00:09:20] It takes courage to say, hey, the deal that you got us out of was a terrific deal. You should put us back into that deal. So that's speaking truth to power, right? And, and by the way, that means that Maher is not in favor of attacking Iran, which is what Israel wants. [00:09:37] So. And he told Trump that. And Trump views him as an Israel guy, which because he is. And here's somebody, you know, that he used to be on his side on that issue going, don't attack Iran. I'll take it. I'll definitely take that. Right. And he even criticizes Gaza policy. [00:09:53] Wow. I'll definitely take that. Right. So again guys, don't be unrealistic. Like oh, Bill told him in a dinner. So Donald Trump is not going to go back into the Obama deal on Iran? No, of course not. I don't expect that Bill Maher doesn't expect that. [00:10:09] But is it an extra voice against the war with Iran? And is that a good thing? Absolutely. Hopefully more and more of those voices will add up. So, Sharon, when I look at it overall, I think I don't think it's world changing, but I think it was a good effort and it probably did some good. [00:10:26] That's my that's my take on it. What's your take on it? I agree with you. I wouldn't have an issue with you going in there and coming out and giving your honest assessment. And I'm not suggesting that Bill Maher, wasn't genuine or completely honest, [00:10:43] but I guess one thing that I'm thinking about, and again, I agree with you, but, you know, Donald Trump is a some would say con artist, but let's just call him an artist of personalities. And he knows that when he invites you over how to butter you up [00:11:00] and make you feel so good and pretend that he's listening and maybe he is okay, you know, the last person in the room can usually have some effect on him, but I wonder what you think about someone going in there with Trump's agenda is let me play this guy enough so that he'll go normalize me [00:11:19] to his following, which is significant. And so I wonder how you you feel about that. And again, I'm not saying that that happened or Bill Maher is stupid or gullible, but when Donald Trump wants an audience with you, [00:11:35] even if kid Rock set it up, even if you hate his guts, I think you feel like a chosen one. And that's human nature. So I don't know. I just wonder about that part. By and large, I agree. I would go sit down, I would. Okay. [00:11:50] And I probably would listen and I'd have some some openness. Yes. - But I just wonder about that part. - Yeah. So actually in our live chat, Paul, you know, the show is live. Monday to Friday starts at 6:00 eastern, goes to 8:00, and then we have an extra bonus episode for members. I'm going to quote another member in a second, but in the live chat we asked, [00:12:08] do you think Bill Maher would will be softer on Trump now? So that's kind of a post question right after the dinner. That's the issue that Sharon just brought up My issue was how did the dinner go? Did it help in any way, shape or form? The secondary thing is, is now Ma going to lean more towards Trump? [00:12:27] ET cetera. And 79% of you think that he will. I I'm going to go out on a limb here, and I am on a limb on this one, but I'm going to say no, I don't think he will. And so and I say that as a guy who was heavily criticized. [00:12:43] Bill Maher. Right. And so but he read a list. So why do I say that? He read a list of the things that, that he already agreed with Trump on, including tightening up the border. And he said, you know, going a little too far on Di and a couple other, things. [00:13:00] And as you read that list, there was 1 or 2 things that I disagreed with. But overall I was like, yeah, yeah, that is what Bill Maher has been saying. And I largely agree with Bill Maher on those things. I disagree on others. And so do I think that he'll go. Was that his real list that he already agreed with Trump on? [00:13:17] Yes. I've seen him say those things right? Do I think he'll go further than that? Give Trump a bigger break going forward? I can't believe I'm going to, you know, trust more on this. But no, but I do believe it. Look for those the opinions of his that drive me crazy. [00:13:34] They are his real opinions. Right. And and so that's so he's not faking that. And I've never I haven't seen him fake things before. And he is at a point where he's like, look, I have enough money. I have enough fame. Why? How does it help me to kiss Trump's ass? [00:13:50] Right? So, but if it turns out he's much softer on Trump, then I'll come back and tell you and say, hey, I screwed that one up, right? But I but okay, for now, I think that that Ma won't and I'm in the minority on that. So last thing here is from one of our members eclectic Miscellany, right. [00:14:08] By the way, you could be a member by hitting the join button below if you're watching on YouTube or tweet to. And he and eclectic from Titcomb. So anyway, he wrote in maybe Jen could have a productive conversation with Trump because he would go into the conversation trying to accomplish something important. [00:14:24] There's no way that Bill Maher went into that dinner thinking he would accomplish anything other than getting some headlines and inflating his already outsized ego. So eclectic. I, you know, I, that I can't get too deep into Mars, you know, psyche and psychoanalyze him on that. But I hear what you're saying. [00:14:40] Given, the past, and I appreciate your compliment about me, but the reason I read that is because he's right in that if I had the dinner with, Trump, I would go in with a plan. And the plan would be, how do I get one of our priorities passed? [00:14:56] Because everything else is just fun and games except actual action bills that pass or in Trump's case, executive orders, etc.. Right? So I think Maher did some good by pushing, you know, getting back into the Iran peace deal and not going to war. [00:15:12] Could you have done more good if you made a pitch for paid family leave, one that he might be able to understand and actually go for? Well, no, you wouldn't, Would you have over a 50% chance on that? No. But will I take a 20% chance on passing paid family leave [00:15:29] under any administration? Yes. And so if you say, hey, that's naive, he'll never go for it. Well, I'd rather have a 20% chance than a 0% chance. So I wish others in media cared as much about actual legislation and policy, and [00:15:45] really had a plan to be able to effectuate that in a Democratic administration or a Republican administration. But that's probably asking for too much. So overall, jury's out on this dinner so far. But I like the idea and and I and let's see if you guys are right [00:16:00] or I'm right on what Bill does next. I think you would have gone in there. And I think I actually think it would have done something. I think he would have said, you know what, because Dana White and Kid Rock don't care, but he would have said, write something up for me and I'll consider it. I actually think he might have been able to do something. [00:16:16] Maybe he'll invite you next. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. Totally not true, but it does keep you updated on our live shows.