The whole Bill Maher thing. [View all]

I used to be a big, big fan of Bill Maher. My family (wife, son, and me) even decided to get tickets to a rehearsal of his HBO show years ago, and we had a lot of fun. (The rehearsal had stand-ins for the eventual guests, but we did hear him do a test of his monologue for that week.) But I haven't watched Maher in years, especially as he's seemed to become moderate to the point of conservative.

I watched the clip of him explaining his visit to Trump and how he enjoyed it, and I can't help but think Trump was putting on a show, as he loves to do. Trump is a veteran television performer, and he and, I think, Maher know that. Why didn't Maher realize that? Why haven't we seen this side of Trump before? And will we see it again? I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

As for Maher's ho-hum attitude, in one respect, I get it because he's reporting on the performance that he saw. But the real question will be how Maher plays this out as Trump 2.0 continues. Initially, I was quite irritated with Maher, but after hearing his explanation, I realized there was room for it. It'll be interesting to see where he and Trump go with this. We'll then find out who the real actor is.