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Friends Weekend\u2019 co-hosts react to Bill Maher discussing his recent White House meeting with President Donald Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"paywall\">\n<div class=\"article-gating gated-overlay\">\n<div class=\"article-gating-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"article-gating-title\">Join Fox News for access to this content<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-gating-subtitle\">Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account &#8211; free of charge.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-gating-legal tablet-desktop\">By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/terms-of-use\" target=\"_blank\">Terms of Use<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/privacy-policy\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a>, which includes our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/privacy-policy#fi\" target=\"_blank\">Notice of Financial Incentive<\/a>.\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"message error hide\"><span>Please enter a valid email address.<\/span><\/div>\n<form class=\"article-gating-form\"><input placeholder=\"Enter your email\" name=\"gate-email\" type=\"email\" disabled required=\"required\" class=\"article-gating-input\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gating-legal mobile\">By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News&#8217; 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Click here.<\/a><\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"speakable\">Several members of the liberal media are fuming over &#8220;Real Time&#8221; host Bill Maher&#8217;s monologue recapping his dinner with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">President Donald Trump<\/a> at the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container tablet ad-h-50 ad-w-300\">\n<div data-iu=\"lb2\" id=\"tablet-tw-ad-lb2\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-container mobile ad-h-250 ad-w-300 ad-placeholder-load\">\n<div data-iu=\"ban1\" id=\"mobile-mw-ad-ban1\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam inline\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"speakable\">Maher went viral last Friday in his first show since he and Trump met face-to-face in a meeting coordinated by their mutual friend Kid Rock. Maher called Trump &#8220;gracious and measured&#8221; and suggested the man in the Oval Office is not the man the rest of the world sees on TV.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him,&#8221; Maher told his audience. &#8220;And honestly, I voted for Clinton and Obama, but I would never feel comfortable talking to them the way I was able to talk with Donald Trump. That&#8217;s just how it went down. Make of it what you will. Me? I feel it&#8217;s emblematic of why the Democrats are so unpopular these days.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container desktop ad-h-50 ad-w-300\">\n<div data-iu=\"lb2\" id=\"desktop-desk-ad-lb2\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/bill-maher-reveals-trump-gracious-measured-white-house-meeting-says-hes-not-man-seen-tv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>BILL MAHER REVEALS TRUMP WAS \u2018GRACIOUS AND MEASURED\u2019 AT WHITE HOUSE MEETING, SAYS HE&#8217;S NOT THE MAN SEEN ON TV<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/343\/192\/mahertrumpgrouppic.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/686\/384\/mahertrumpgrouppic.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/672\/378\/mahertrumpgrouppic.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1344\/756\/mahertrumpgrouppic.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/931\/523\/mahertrumpgrouppic.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1862\/1046\/mahertrumpgrouppic.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/720\/405\/mahertrumpgrouppic.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440\/810\/mahertrumpgrouppic.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1200\/675\/mahertrumpgrouppic.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"Bill Maher White House visit\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>HBO&#8217;s Bill Maher praised President Donald Trump for being &#8220;gracious and measured&#8221; during his White House visit.<\/span> <span>(Screenshot\/HBO)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-container mobile ad-h-250 ad-w-300 ad-placeholder-load\">\n<div data-iu=\"ban2\" id=\"mobile-mw-ad-ban2\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam inline\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>While conservatives celebrated Maher&#8217;s White House visit, many liberals were irked by his comments.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container tablet ad-h-50 ad-w-300\">\n<div data-iu=\"lb3\" id=\"tablet-tw-ad-lb3\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;Congrats, @billmaher. You got played by Trump. Easy mark. He used you like a fiddle,&#8221; Substack writer Wajahat Ali reacted on X.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;BTW don&#8217;t overanalyze Maher prostituting himself to Trump,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/ex-msnbc-host-keith-olbermann-unloads-bill-maher-over-visit-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ex-MSNBC host Keith Olbermann wrote<\/a>. &#8220;I&#8217;ve known Bill since 1978. He was a shameless opportunist with no real principles then and he remains so. This is so he can keep his HBO show.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container mobile ad-h-250 ad-w-300 ad-placeholder-load\">\n<div data-iu=\"ban3\" id=\"mobile-mw-ad-ban3\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam inline\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/bill-maher-calls-trump-one-most-effective-politicians-because-his-authenticity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>BILL MAHER CALLS TRUMP ONE OF THE \u2018MOST EFFECTIVE POLITICIANS\u2019 BECAUSE OF HIS AUTHENTICITY<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-media twitter\">\n<div class=\"tweet-embed\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-media twitter\">\n<div class=\"tweet-embed\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/343\/192\/mahertrump.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/686\/384\/mahertrump.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/672\/378\/mahertrump.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1344\/756\/mahertrump.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/931\/523\/mahertrump.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1862\/1046\/mahertrump.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/720\/405\/mahertrump.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440\/810\/mahertrump.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1200\/675\/mahertrump.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"Bill Maher Donald Trump\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>Liberals have taken aim at Bill Maher for complimenting President Trump following his White House visit.\u00a0<\/span> <span>(Screenshot\/HBO; Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Democratic strategist and Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall similarly thought Maher&#8217;s D.C. visit was purely &#8220;self-serving,&#8221; linking it to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/morning-joe-co-hosts-hold-face-to-face-meeting-trump-first-time-seven-years\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the post-election Mar-a-Lago visit<\/a> by MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, asking how anyone who views Trump as a &#8220;threat to democracy&#8221; can go &#8220;break bread&#8221; with him unless it involved their bottom line.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container tablet ad-h-50 ad-w-300\">\n<div data-iu=\"lb4\" id=\"tablet-tw-ad-lb4\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;When you over-explain, you&#8217;re guilty,&#8221; Marshall told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News Digital<\/a>. &#8220;I guess we&#8217;ll find out in a few months if this was a bad decision for him based on ratings and subscriptions.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container desktop ad-h-50 ad-w-300\">\n<div data-iu=\"lb3\" id=\"desktop-desk-ad-lb3\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-container mobile ad-h-250 ad-w-300 ad-placeholder-load\">\n<div data-iu=\"ban4\" id=\"mobile-mw-ad-ban4\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam inline\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Washington Post was quite forceful against Maher&#8217;s trip to the White House. It published a story Monday titled &#8220;Trump charmed Bill Maher. The comedian\u2019s fans don\u2019t find it funny.&#8221; The report cited Reddit users and comments on social media slamming the HBO host, many of them vowing they&#8217;d quit watching his show, as well as an Oakland lawyer who told the Post he lacks &#8220;empathy&#8221; for those impacted by Trump&#8217;s policies like the laid-off federal employees.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/washington-post-columnist-clashes-bill-maher-falling-trap-talking-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST CLASHES WITH BILL MAHER ON \u2018FALLING IN THE TRAP\u2019 OF TALKING TO TRUMP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Washington Post columnist Le\u00f3n Krauze authored a piece declaring Maher &#8220;got played&#8221; by Trump, comparing his comments about the president to flattery others have given to Adolf Hitler, Fidel Castro, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong over their private interactions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container tablet ad-h-50 ad-w-300\">\n<div data-iu=\"lb5\" id=\"tablet-tw-ad-lb5\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-container mobile ad-h-250 ad-w-300 ad-placeholder-load\">\n<div data-iu=\"ban5\" id=\"mobile-mw-ad-ban5\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam inline\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;By agreeing to meet with Trump, allowing himself to be privately charmed by a charismatic leader and then sharing his softened new take on the president, Bill Maher has made the task of holding Trump accountable that much more difficult,&#8221; Krauze concluded.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Washington Post global security analyst Josh Rogin brought his criticism directly to Maher during the &#8220;Real Time&#8221; panel discussion, telling the host he was a &#8220;prop&#8221; in Trump&#8217;s &#8220;PR stunt.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/343\/192\/rogin1.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/686\/384\/rogin1.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/672\/378\/rogin1.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1344\/756\/rogin1.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/931\/523\/rogin1.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1862\/1046\/rogin1.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/720\/405\/rogin1.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440\/810\/rogin1.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1200\/675\/rogin1.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"Josh Rogin\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>Washington Post global security analyst Josh Rogin told Maher he was a &#8220;prop&#8221; in President Trump&#8217;s &#8220;PR stunt&#8221; during the &#8220;Real Time&#8221; panel discussion after Maher&#8217;s monologue recapping his White House visit.<\/span> <span>(HBO \/ Screenshot)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin accused Maher of not realizing Trump was &#8220;using him&#8221; and suggested Maher fed into the &#8220;normalization of Trumpism&#8221; with his White House visit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container mobile ad-h-250 ad-w-300 ad-placeholder-load\">\n<div data-iu=\"ban6\" id=\"mobile-mw-ad-ban6\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam inline\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>But not all liberals see the Maher-Trump dinner as a bad thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container desktop ad-h-50 ad-w-300\">\n<div data-iu=\"lb4\" id=\"desktop-desk-ad-lb4\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-container tablet ad-h-50 ad-w-300\">\n<div data-iu=\"lb6\" id=\"tablet-tw-ad-lb6\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s anything wrong with the meeting,&#8221; Fox News contributor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/person\/f\/richard-fowler\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Richard Fowler<\/a> told Fox News Digital. &#8220;I think if you stay inside the Washington, D.C., beltway, it&#8217;s very easy to live inside of a political silo.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&#038;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&#038;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/u><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container mobile ad-h-250 ad-w-300 ad-placeholder-load\">\n<div data-iu=\"ban7\" id=\"mobile-mw-ad-ban7\" data-ad-size=\"\" class=\"ad gam inline\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Fowler said while the Democratic &#8220;base&#8221; may see something wrong with meeting with Trump, they have to face the current reality that &#8220;Republicans control all the levers of power&#8221; and that expressing their concerns directly to him in an Oval Office conversation is a conversation worth having, even if it ends unsuccessfully.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a tool in the Democratic Party&#8217;s toolkit,&#8221; Fowler said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-bio\">\n<p>Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to joseph.wulfsohn@fox.com and on Twitter: @JosephWulfsohn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>close Video Bill Maher opens up about his positive experience with Trump, compliments his \u2018good humor\u2019 \u2018Fox &#038; Friends Weekend\u2019 co-hosts react to Bill Maher discussing his recent White House meeting with President Donald Trump.\u00a0 Join Fox News for access to this content Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22538,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22502\/revisions\/22538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}