Smith as President Trump’s White House dinner guests earlier this month, and, following the dinner, Trump intimated to reporters that Maher’s criticisms of him on his late-night program are mostly bluster, and he “likes me a lot more than people understand.” “Yeah, I did it again, bitches,” Maher said about his four-hour dinner with Trump during his opening monologue on “Real Time” Friday night, adding, “You know what? I like these dinners.” Maher then managed to land Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s former press secretary who left the post in August, as an interview guest on his show “Real Time.” It’s a curious pairing given that Maher had previously attacked Leavitt on his program following the then-press secretary’s defense of Trump shouting, “Quiet, piggy!” to Bloomberg News reporter Catherine Lucey when she questioned him about Jeffrey Epstein aboard Air Force One. Leavitt spun the incident by claiming, “It’s actually admirable.
It’s the president being frank, open, and honest. It’s actually good,’” prompting Maher to jokingly remark to Leavitt, “Well, in that case: Shut up, bitch.” And so, Maher welcomed Leavitt to “Real Time” Friday night where he mostly treated her with kid gloves and poked fun at her successor, Katie Zacharia, for only lasting five days on the job. No follow-up from Maher about the Trump-Fox News pipeline, but instead a silly rejoinder about how Trump wants to turn the White House press pool into an actual swimming pool.
Cue Maher: “You know what? This is the one thing that people get mad at me [about]… I don’t give a shit about any of this. America does need a ballroom.
It’s the United States of America.” The softball questions and flattery didn’t stop there, as Maher asked Leavitt about her penchant for being “sarcastic” and didn’t ask any follow-up questions when she touted Trump’s war with Iran. Maher delivered a litany of compliments about Trump, saying he “gets it” and, when Leavitt claimed Trump was “far more sane than the last [president]” who was “a mental patient,” Maher replied, “He’s far more energetic.” It’s another reminder that Maher isn’t a journalist and refuses to challenge the conservative guests on his show. He’s just happy for them to be there.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
