Former President Donald Trump launched a fiery attack on Bill Maher and his guests over commentary they made about him on the HBO show.
“The ratings challenged Bill Maher, on his increasingly boring show on HBO, is really having a hard time coping with TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME,” Trump sounded off in a Saturday Truth Social post.
“He is a befuddled mess, sloppy and tired, and every conversation, with B and C list guests, seems to start with, or revert back to, ME!”
Trump also targeted Maher’s Friday night guests — MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle and The New York Times columnist Bret Stephens.
Bill Maher, the highly overrated “Star” of the ratings challenged show with the Fake, Loud and Obnoxious laughter pouring out of your set every few seconds, even when nothing was said that was funny (which is most of the time!), suffers from a terminal case of Trump Derangement… pic.twitter.com/5qwKVs3Jfp
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) June 22, 2024
He labeled Ruhle a ‘bimbo’ and ‘as dumb as a rock,’ while dubbing Stephens a “Trump-hating loser.”
Trump pointed out that Stephens “seemed totally confused and unsure of himself, very much like Maher himself” during the broadcast.
He advised Stephens to look for a different job and said that The Times was a “badly run” publication led by a bunch of “degenerate editors.”
This is sad.
Maher tries to bring up the second Trump assassination attempt and audience members start laughing. He scolds them and they proceed to laugh again.
If this was Harris and someone even joked about the assassination attempt the world would lose its mind.
We are… pic.twitter.com/41gq5601It
— End Tribalism in Politics (@EndTribalism) September 21, 2024
“They apologized to their readers in 2016 for their complete and total MISS, and they’ll do it again in November,” Trump wrapped up.
“The FAILING New York Times is a badly run “newspaper” that has totally lost its way. Put it to sleep!”
Maher and Stephens both discussed Trump’s recent statement that Jewish Americans “would have a lot to do” with his potential election loss.
Maher commented, “Whenever the autocrat starts blaming the Jews I think it’s a great sign because when has that ever turned out badly.”
Stephens described Trump as “anti-Semitic adjacent,” adding, “Democracy is at risk whenever anti-Semitism rears its head.”
Trump made the remarks at the Isreal-American Council summit, after noting that 60% of Jewish-American’s planned on voting for Democrats, when he’s the one “protecting” then, while the left is out “to destroy you.”
“Anybody who is Jewish and loves being Jewish and loves Israel is a fool if they vote for a Democrat,” he added.
On Maher’s Friday show, Stephens said he wouldn’t vote for Trump but was also undecided on Kamala Harris due to unclear political stances.
Ruhle countered, “Kamala Harris isn’t running for perfection. She’s running against Trump.”
“We have two choices,” she added. “And so there are some things you might not know her answer to, and in 2024, unlike 2016 for a lot of the American people, we know exactly what Trump will do, who he is and the kind of threat he is to democracy.”
During the same show, Maher scolded the audience for laughing when he brought up the second assassination attempt on Trump.
‘I’m being serious. This is the second time this happened. I said this before,” he stated.
“There can be no fuzz on this. This is not funny! OK? So. OK. So, look, it’s not OK to wish it happened,” he continued.
When his audience roared with laughter at the remark, he added, “Well, this is a problem.”
“Well, I mean, look, this happens too frequently. I’m sorry this happened on the golf course,” Maher went on. “The guy was laying in wait and it happens too much.”
“In fact, besides the shooter, there were other two other shooters beside him waiting to play through. This has got to stop,” he concluded.
During the same episode, Maher acknowledged that Trump is correct that “rhetoric has consequences,” but noted that saying someone is destroying the country can incite violence.
However, he claimed that Trump remains a threat to democracy and “The answer can’t be that we can’t say what’s true.”
Maher further explained that Trump had accused others of rhetoric that led to him being targeted, while failing to recognize his own similar rhetoric.
Bret Stephens tries to make an argument that we should tone down the rhetoric and not say Trump is a threat to democracy: “The case against Trump is that he’s going to be a terrible president.”
Bill Maher: “That’s a dumb argument… He is a threat to democracy.”
Stephanie… pic.twitter.com/tFzpsPAhxC
— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) September 21, 2024
“Then, in true Trumpian fashion, being the most unself-aware person, claims that his opponents are the ones destroying the country, which is the same kind of rhetoric that could provoke someone to shoot at you,” Maher stated.
Maher conceded that Trump’s point about the consequences of rhetoric was valid, but said Trump is “possibly the worst person to make this case.”
Stephens agreed, but he conceded that Trump is “absolutely right that we probably should tone it down. When we’re calling our opponents the end of democracy, the end of Western Civilization, we’re not helping our arguments.”
Maher countered that Stephen Trump “is a threat to democracy,” and the “solution can’t be that we can’t say what’s true.”