Patton Oswalt warns Bill Maher against appeasing Trump, says president ‘hates himself’
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Amid Bill Maher’s softening tone towards President Donald Trump, comedian Patton Oswalt appeared to school the Comedian and political commentator that appeasing Trump will only make him lose respect.
While Bill Maher remains Trump’s vocal critic, he has adopted a more pragmatic approach.
He has recently called out the media for its obsession with Trump and described his face-to-face interaction with the president as "gracious and measured."
Oswalt says Trump disrespects appeasers
During an appearance on The Dean Obeidallah Show, Dean Obeidallah compared Bill Maher’s recent outreach toward Donald Trump with the more confrontational approach taken by former The Late Show with Stephen Colbert host Stephen Colbert.
Patton Oswalt argued that trying to “placate” Trump does not work because, according to Oswalt, Trump quickly loses respect for people who flatter or appease him.
Speaking on The Dean Obeidallah Show, host Dean Obeidallah pointed to Bill Maher as an example, noting that the comedian had recently met Trump for dinner and initially made conciliatory remarks about the president before later becoming a target of Trump’s criticism again.
“And at first (Bill) is saying sort of nice things about Trump. And then Trump just turns on him anyway. Like you can’t win with him. I don’t know what people don’t get that lesson,” Obeidallah argued. Oswalt said Maher’s experience demonstrated why trying to “placate” Trump does not work.
“The reason that Trump is turning on Bill Maher is because Bill tried to, I’m sure with good intentions, tried to placate him and you can’t do that with him,” Oswalt said.
He contrasted Maher’s approach with late-night hosts such as Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, who have remained openly critical of Trump.
“By defying Trump, this is going to sound kind of weird, Colbert and Kimmel, yeah, Trump hates them but he hates them because they don’t love him. He wants them to love him,” the comedian added.
“And then the minute they love him, he has zero respect for them because deep down he hates himself.”
“And anyone, anyone who does business with Trump, you would just think basic greed would make you want to defy him. Because anyone that does business with him, you get destroyed,” Oswald suggested.
Trump–Maher feud: satire vs politics
Maher had long mocked Trump publicly, especially during the “birther” controversy, the false conspiracy theory pushed by Trump and others claiming Barack Obama was not born in the US.
In 2013, Maher jokingly said on-air that he would donate $5 million to charity if Trump could prove he was not “the son of an orangutan.” It was satire mocking Trump’s obsession with Obama’s birth certificate.
Trump responded by filing a $5 million lawsuit against Maher, claiming breach of contract and defamation. The lawsuit was widely viewed as frivolous and was eventually dropped.
Maher recently tried to show openness and willingness to engage with Trump personally by having dinner with him at the White House.
