“I’m just telling you what I saw, and I wasn’t high” was the way Bill Maher concluded his “book report” (as he called it) about his visit to the White House and his dinner with Donald Trump.

A couple of weeks ago, this dinner party – arranged by Kid Rock – at the White House between Bill Maher and President Donald Trump took place. Immediately after, Kid Rock declared the evening a success, saying “It could not have been better.” President Trump, for his part, has said nothing about the visit on social media – which to me, is the indicator that things went well (because if it hadn’t, the president would not have been shy about saying so).

Last night on his show, Bill Maher gave his account of the White House visit – and he agreed with Kid Rock. His monologue about the visit is well worth the watch, because hearing his inflection – and dare I say, wonder – about how the evening went, really adds to the retelling.

In true form for both men, however, Maher had his staff print out a list of dozens upon dozens of insults the President has leveled at him over the years – ranging from “low-life dummy” to “sleazebag – and Trump actually signed it for him.

“I brought this to the White House because I wanted him to sign it, which he did with good humor,” Maher revealed.

Maher also marveled at Trump’s “self awareness,” and said he never felt that he was “on eggshells” with Trump.

“I’ve had so many conversations with prominent people who are much less connected, people who don’t look you in the eye, people don’t really listen because they just want to get to their next thing… None of that was him, and he mostly steered the conversation to ‘What do you think about this?’ I know, your mind is blown. So is mine.”

Maher said there were several moments where he cracked a joke at Trump’s expense or contradicted him on various topics, but it was “no problem” between the two of them.

“I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him,” he told his audience. “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’s just how it went down. Make of it what you will. Me? I feel it’s emblematic of why the Democrats are so unpopular these days.”

“A crazy person doesn’t live in the White House, a person who plays a crazy person on TV a lot lives there, which I know is f—ed up. It’s just not as f—ed up as I thought it was, and I have no illusions now that I’m back to work at my job, that he might start a new list,” Maher said, holding up the printout of Trump’s insults to him. “Because I don’t have a good feeling and will be critical about a lot of what he’s doing- the trade war and disappearing people, ruling by decree, threatening judges, gutting the government with glee.”

“But I also think he now understands I have a job to do, or at least he did on this night, because he said to me early on that he’d seen our last episode, which was the Friday before this dinner, and he said, ‘I thought maybe you’d be nice, but you hit me really hard.’ I did because I’m not going to pull my punches that presidents get to propose a third term for themselves. He understood that, and without animus, that doesn’t mean he’s not going to try to do it,” he continued.

But it is clear that Maher walked away from the dinner visit with an entirely new perspective on Donald Trump the person, not the persona. He also genuinely appreciated the opportunity to see both the White House on a personal level (which he was clearly in awe of, despite the fact that he joked repeatedly how Trump took him into the small room off the Oval Office – “the blowjob room” – which is now filled with Trump merch), and the president at his most personable and congenial.

Cue the haters. It look less than an hour for Maher to be told he was all wrong, and that Trump was just using him for a “PR stunt” – on his own show.

Bill Maher panelist openly triggered by his meeting with Trump:
Josh Rogin: "Counterpoint: But I think you've fallen into the trap and I think I represent 99% of the internet when I say this:
You've played the game of proximity is principle. Maybe he wasn't there in good faith."… pic.twitter.com/ILkfiUBwh7

— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) April 12, 2025

Maher was having none of Washington Post‘s Josh Rogin’s crap.

During a panel discussion later in the show, with Piers Morgan, Rogin challenged Maher on the implications of the meeting.

“You’ve played the game of proximity is principle,” Rogin argued, suggesting that Maher’s willingness to sit down with Trump may have inadvertently served Trump. “I think that I represent 99 percent of the internet when I say this.”

Though Rogin prefaced his remarks by expressing his admiration for Maher, the host cut him off.

“You don’t have to patronize me, dude, I don’t know you, I never met you,” Maher fired back. “Not everybody has to like it.”

Maher added, “What is the alternative to not talking? Just sit at your lunch table and don’t talk to anybody?”

After Morgan intervened to praise Maher for walking across the aisle to meet Trump, the host hit Rogin for putting too much stock in what is said on social media.

“The fact that you began your little rant with the internet – that tells me everything,” Maher said. “You take your cues from the internet. Good luck. The internet is a cesspool that just wants to fight.”

Rogin is allegedly an “objective journalist” – but claims he represents “99 percent of the internet.” Maher is correct in saying to Rogin that claiming he represents “the internet” was the biggest tell. And Rogin sucking up to Maher, only to be cut off at the knees by Bill himself saying that they had never met before, made Josh Rogin look like the biggest tool at the table.

But this is what Maher – and any other sane person – is going to have to deal with after a personal encounter with Donald Trump. If you dare challenge the leftist orthodoxy that Trump is NOT Hitler, and that in private he’s actually a personable and likeable human being, with the ability to take a joke and listen to people, then you will get the Josh Rogins (and worse) telling you that Trump was just using you and that THEY know better. It’s “who are you gonna believe – me or your lyin’ eyes?” writ large. Maher’s personal experience challenges the hard left narrative, so he MUST be wrong – because the hard left cannot possibly be wrong about the tenets of their political faith. Bill Maher is now the “unbeliever” who must be shunned and mocked for daring to step outside the lines.

I think Maher is going to be okay with that. He’s not moving to the right, and he definitely wouldn’t vote for Trump in another election. But his call for civility allowed him to see Trump as a human being who was charming and relatable. That fact alone is going to make a thousand leftist heads collectively explode – because if Trump isn’t Hitler, then what do they have left?

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click