Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin accused “Real Time” host Bill Maher in a testy exchange on Friday of having “fallen into the trap” by meeting with President Donald Trump the previous week.
Maher, a longtime Trump critic who’s nonetheless stood out on the late-night circuit with his criticism of leftist excess, said Trump was “gracious and measured” during his visit to the White House, acknowledging his warm words might not be well-received by progressives.
Rogin, however, pushed back on Maher’s decision to visit the White House and suggested that he had been used as part of a “PR stunt.”
“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,” Rogin said. “I’m not questioning your motivation, I’m questioning Trump’s, OK?”
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Rogin emphasized that both he and the audience trusted that Maher met with Trump in good faith, but questioned Trump’s motives for the dinner.
The praise seemed to have struck a nerve with Maher, who told Rogin, “You don’t have to patronize me, dude. I don’t know you. I’ve never met you.”
“Not everybody has to like it. That’s what we said. There are people who didn’t want it to happen at all. You sound like one of them, it’s OK.”
Rogin attempted to talk over the late-night host but was abruptly cut off by Maher asking, “Did you hear what I said? What is the alternative to not talking? Just sit at your lunch table and don’t talk to anybody?”
In his response to Maher, Rogin claimed that Trump saw this meeting as a “PR stunt,” and used Maher as a “prop in that PR stunt.”
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Piers Morgan, a guest on the panel, also pushed back on Rogin’s interpretation of the meeting, pointing out that most Americans aren’t as tribal as social media might lead some to believe.
“If you go on social media for five minutes now, you just have this tribal fury raging all day long. Everyone’s got to be implacably there, implacably there, and actually, most Americans and most Brits; they’re not like that,” Piers explained, adding, “And then, the idea that Bill Maher is now going to stop criticizing Donald Trump… is preposterous!”
Maher then affirmed Piers’ idea, noting that he didn’t hold back on Trump during his opening monologue or during his interview with former Trump advisor Steve Bannon earlier in the show.
Not giving Rogin a chance to respond, Maher jumped right back into challenging his interpretation of the Trump meeting.
“The fact that you began your little rant with ‘the internet,’ that tells me everything. You take your cues from the internet. Good luck,” he told Rogin.
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Rogin attempted to push back on Maher, questioning whether the late-night host believed that Trump would be “changed” after the meeting. Maher quickly shut him down.
“I said in the piece I did not think that was going to happen!” he sternly told Rogin, to which the columnist replied, “In that case then, go with God and enjoy.”
