BONUS: Bill Maher Explains Why He’s Having Dinner With Donald Trump

Summary

The Chris Cuomo Project: BONUS Episode Summary Episode Title: Bill Maher Explains Why He’s Having Dinner With Donald Trump
Release Date: March 28, 2025

In this bonus episode of The Chris Cuomo Project, veteran broadcast journalist Chris Cuomo engages in a candid and insightful conversation with comedian and political commentator Bill Maher. The discussion delves into Maher's upcoming dinner with former President Donald Trump, his current relevance in the media landscape, environmental concerns, and critiques of California's governance. This summary captures the key points, notable quotes, and underlying themes explored during their dialogue.

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1. Introduction to the Dinner with Donald Trump

Chris Cuomo initiates the conversation by addressing Bill Maher's unprecedented decision to accept an invitation to dine with Donald Trump, a figure he has historically critiqued vehemently.

• Chris Cuomo [00:05]: "Bill Maher has been given that privilege. And I sat down with him to do his podcast, and I asked him if I could get some questions in there of my own. He said, sure. And he's gonna go meet a man who he has criticized like nobody else has in show business."

Cuomo emphasizes the significance of Maher's decision, highlighting it as a potential step towards healing political divides.

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2. Bill Maher's Relevance in Today's Media Landscape

As Maher approaches his 70th birthday, the conversation shifts to his enduring relevance and the evolution of his career.

• Bill Maher [05:33]: "I can't control how that panel discussion goes. I can control the written elements so people can be guaranteed every week I want them to feel like, oh, that's a kick-ass monologue."

Maher reflects on his transition from daily to weekly shows, striving for quality over quantity, and maintaining the integrity of his content.

• Bill Maher [08:14]: "I recognize it now that you said it. I'm just gonna sign on to that and agree. I hope so."

Acknowledging his sustained relevance, Maher attributes it to his consistent stance on issues and his ability to adapt without compromising his principles.

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3. Environmental Concerns: The Menace of Plastic Pollution

A significant portion of the discussion centers on Maher's apprehensions about plastic pollution and its pervasive impact on the environment and human health.

• Bill Maher [10:09]: "Plastic. Like from the Graduate, like in my brain that you think we're poisoning ourselves."

Maher underscores the omnipresence of plastic, highlighting its non-biodegradable nature and its infiltration into ecosystems and living organisms.

• Bill Maher [12:20]: "Everything is made out of fucking plastic and it's not biodegradable and it's not meant to be in our bodies."

He connects environmental degradation with governmental inaction, expressing frustration over inadequate responses to natural disasters exacerbated by environmental neglect.

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4. Critique of California's Governance and Regulatory Overreach

Maher offers a scathing critique of California's regulatory environment, attributing challenges like wildfire management to excessive government intervention.

• Bill Maher [14:20]: "Why do I have to have inspectors looking at my roof? It's my roof it falls on. If it falls on my head, that's my problem."

He argues that stringent regulations and bureaucratic red tape hinder effective governance and personal responsibility, particularly in disaster preparedness and response.

• Bill Maher [15:48]: "They've got to cut the red tape. This is a blue state that runs completely on red."

Maher envisions a more streamlined, less intrusive governmental approach to enable swift and efficient problem-solving.

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5. The Significance of the Dinner Meeting with Donald Trump

The pinnacle of the conversation revolves around Maher's decision to dine with Trump, exploring his motivations and anticipated outcomes.

• Bill Maher [16:24]: "I'm doing it because, first of all, it was presented as a dare. ... I just think to meet somebody. First of all, it's an honor to be invited to the White House."

Maher likens the meeting to the historical Nixon-China relations, suggesting that such dialogues are essential for bridging deep political divides, even if outcomes are uncertain.

• Bill Maher [17:40]: "I think it's going to, you know, look, it probably will accomplish very little, but you gotta try, man. You gotta try."

His approach is rooted in pragmatism and a desire to foster direct communication, despite acknowledging the entrenched challenges in healing national fractures.

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6. Reflections on Personal and Political Identity

Throughout the episode, Maher introspectively examines his political identity, asserting consistency in his liberal values while critiquing shifts within the political spectrum.

• Bill Maher [08:14]: "I'm the same guy, you know, I really, I really haven't changed that much. ... I'm an old school liberal but you know, I'm not, I'm not going to get on the crazy train with you if you go someplace weird."

He expresses concern over the transformation of both the left and the right, striving to maintain his foundational beliefs amidst evolving political landscapes.

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7. Conclusion: Looking Forward

As the episode wraps up, both Cuomo and Maher express optimism about the potential impacts of the dinner meeting and Maher's continued influence in media and political discourse.

• Bill Maher [18:54]: "It is great, isn't it?"
• Chris Cuomo [18:55]: "100."
• Bill Maher [18:56]: "Yes."

Cuomo commends Maher's initiative, reinforcing the significance of such engagements in fostering dialogue and understanding.

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Final Thoughts

This episode of The Chris Cuomo Project provides a riveting exploration of Bill Maher's current endeavors, his steadfast commitment to his principles, and his proactive steps towards mending political rifts. By candidly addressing pressing issues—from environmental crises to governmental overreach—Maher offers listeners a blend of humor, wisdom, and critical analysis, underscoring his enduring relevance in contemporary discourse.

Notable Quotes:

1. Bill Maher [10:09]: "Plastic. Like from the Graduate, like in my brain that you think we're poisoning ourselves."
2. Bill Maher [16:24]: "I'm doing it because, first of all, it was presented as a dare. ... I just think to meet somebody. First of all, it's an honor to be invited to the White House."
3. Bill Maher [18:54]: "It is great, isn't it?"

These quotes encapsulate Maher's concerns, motivations, and enthusiasm for engaging in pivotal conversations aimed at societal healing.

Transcript

[Chris Cuomo]

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[Bill Maher]

Why?

[Chris Cuomo]

What does he expect from it? And I wanted to get a little deeper into what's motivating Bill Maher right now, because he's never been more relevant than he is today at almost 70.

[Bill Maher]

Why?

[Chris Cuomo]

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[Bill Maher]

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[Chris Cuomo]

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[Bill Maher]

A lot all week. You know, I mean, we're here at the podcast. That's my little break in the week. But other than that, you know, I'm a late riser, but I work old basically all week for the one show. Real time is like football once a week. My old show, Politically Incorrect was like baseball every night. When you do it every night, it can only be so good. When you do it once a week, you want to make it as perfect as you can. So yeah, I mean there's about 40% of maybe 30% of the show is written the monologue, the desk piece, the new rules and the editorial that takes, you know, many, many, many, many hours, especially the editorial and then the panel discussion that you can't. No, no, that, that's, you know, the topics of the week with people and hopefully they're great on them and you can add something. But, but you know, I can't control how that panel discussion goes. I can control the written elements so people can be guaranteed every week I want them to feel like, oh, that's a kick ass monologue. That was a really hysterically funny desk piece. The new rules were funny. The editorial, great. Love that. And then, you know, hopefully the other part of the show was great too. But you know, we were saying before on the podcast, you can only control what you can. And don't mess your mind up about worrying what you can't control.

[Chris Cuomo]

How much does Friday's offering resemble where you started on Monday?

[Bill Maher]

Well, I Usually give out the editorial assignment the Thursday before Monday. I get the first draft. Everybody's pass on that. So, you know, it's a process. I like that. But I have all week to make it just the way I want it. I do a rewrite every night. You know, the, the, the idea sticks. For example, last week it was about, hey, Doge, you know, you're cutting all this. Okay, but what about the Pentagon? That's the biggest target there is. And you said you were going to.

[Chris Cuomo]

Do it and instead you gave us the F47.

[Bill Maher]

Right. And then the day that we were going to do the monologue to do that editorial, they announced 500 and something million cuts. It just made it better because in a $900 billion Defense Department, you're cutting 500 something million. It's just a pittance. So. But I had to rewrite it that morning. But it can be that close.

[Chris Cuomo]

Do you believe that you are at the height of your powers?

[Bill Maher]

No, I don't think you can ever believe you're at the height of anything. You have to. Always. I only look at the forwardness. I, I don't look past, or try not to. When I do, it's not helpful. And it's gone. If it's good. If you're thinking about something good in the past, it's gone. It's not there now. I can only look forward. So, you know, I. Not uniquely, but fairly uniquely do something unlike most people in show business, that can actually get better with age. Most things. No, definitely not music, definitely not sports, definitely not modeling, acting, very rarely. But you know, you have to be iconic by the time you get to 70 to be working at 70. De Niro still works. He's iconic. Al Pacino, iconic, okay, but other than that, you're done. Sometimes you're done at 40. But comedy and news analysis is something that you can't, you can kind of lean into. Well, what I'm selling here is wisdom and funny and I could still pull that off.

[Chris Cuomo]

Pull it off. Do you recognize that you have never been more relevant than you are right now?

[Bill Maher]

I recognize it now that you said it. I'm just gonna sign on to that and agree. I hope so. You know, I'm the same guy, you know, I really, I really haven't changed that much. The world around me has changed. And then they say you changed. But I'm the same basically old school liberal that I always have been. And yes, the left has changed a lot and the right has changed a lot and even worse in many ways. So I'm just trying. I mean that was, I put out a book last year and that was sort of the theme of the book was I went into my past, I looked have I changed? And I really haven't. I mean I quoted myself from a Playboy article I wrote in the 90s that was basically saying exactly what I'm saying today, which is I'm an old school liberal but you know, I'm not, I'm not going to get on the crazy train with you if you go someplace weird. I was saying to Maureen Dowd, she was here last week, that my parents, who loved your father, loved Kennedy. My father, Barry Irish, loved the Kennedys. I mean we've gone these 30 something years. I don't know where his polyvicks would be a, a dyed in the wool Kennedy, liberal Democrat if he came back and saw some of the, that was going on on the left and my Jewish mother, if she saw them chanting for Hamas, I, I, you know, I can't guarantee they wouldn't be for Trump. They're World War II people. I can't get that's not who they were. But so much has changed in 30 years. I mean, so, you know, weird.

[Chris Cuomo]

What gives you the most concern for our future?

[Bill Maher]

Plastic. Like from the Graduate, like in my.

[Chris Cuomo]

Brain that you think we're poisoning ourselves.

[Bill Maher]

Well, we definitely are. Really? That's not a joke answer.

[Chris Cuomo]

That is what your biggest concern is.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah.

[Chris Cuomo]

That plastic has us.

[Bill Maher]

Me, I don't care about you.

[Chris Cuomo]

Thanks.

[Bill Maher]

I mean I don't want you to die from plastic, but I care more about me.

[Chris Cuomo]

Are you doing anything about it?

[Bill Maher]

We can't do anything about it. It's in everything. It's in the air we're breathing right now. Because when this city burned down because of obviously nature, which partly global warming, partly bad governance. We all have a hand in this, but so much that's just in our homes is plastic. True that when these place when so much of the city burned down, we're just breathing it in. And even before that they said we were getting a credit card's worth of plastic in our body every week. It's in our brain. I mean it's everywhere. Polar bears have it in them. Everything is made out of fucking plastic and it's not biodegradable and it's not meant to be in our bodies. And what do I really think is going to get me? I don't think it's Trump, although I obviously have my issues. I think probably the likeliest source immediately would be a car accident and Then after that, it's plastic and the air I breathe here in Los Angeles. You know, I mean, I was very mad at the Democrats when they lost because I said my two big issues are democracy and the environment, and now I don't have a champion for either. So you lost, and that's what you gave me. So don't be mad at me for calling you losers. Loser. Who fucked this election up?

[Chris Cuomo]

Fair appraisal. Does it frustrate you that this place burned down as epically as we all watched it and you don't see an equal fixation on what to change as a result? Not even from Newsom. And he's the one who paid the price. I mean, Karen Bass will probably pay.

[Bill Maher]

A price, but Newsom is on my show Friday, and I can't wait to ask them. But I still think, apropos of what I was just talking about with the plastic, they haven't really released, maybe they haven't found it, but I bet you they do. How toxic these sites are. I mean, after a fire, it's always a disaster. It looks like hell. But is it really a toxic site? I think this one probably is more. They are more toxic sites than we were have so far been apprised, and that's one reason why they haven't started to rebuild, because they're toxic waste sites. So I think they got to get that cleaned up if they can. Maybe they can't. Maybe it's in the soil. Maybe the whole fucking Palisade is the Goonies.

[Chris Cuomo]

But don't you think that they should be obsessed with how to do things differently? And you totally. You don't even hear them talking about it.

[Bill Maher]

Well, you certainly hear Newsom talking about it. He said he's just started this podcast. I'm sure you heard that. He said he was modeling it on what I do on Real Time. He said, I want to talk to other people. His. His first guest was Charlie Kirk, who could be, not more be on the other side. I like this. I like the new Newsom. I've been asking for this Newsom for a long time, so I think he's a great candidate if he was more of a centrist Democrat. And he seems like he wants to be, so I think it's great. And I can't wait till Friday and talk to him.

[Chris Cuomo]

I can't wait to see what he says about what he's got working to make that not happen again when the fires come.

[Bill Maher]

Well, the whole thing is about, this state is just so fucked with over taxes and over Regulation. I mean, last time he was on, I was, you know, kidding him about the fact that I took three years to get my solar power turned on. Now I just had my roof redone because of the fires. Because now I want a fireproof roof. Two inspections like. And you have to pay for those inspections. You know, they're not free. And I asked this on the show last week. I see it got picked up by a lot of people. Why do I have to have inspectors looking at my roof? It's my roof it fall on. If it falls on my head, that's my problem. I don't need the government looking over my shoulder here. And this is why we can't get anything done in this state. The government is just too in our business. And he was on last January and I asked him about this and the red tape and he had a big answer about. Well, we're. Well, I'm going to ask about. I'm going to find out what the exact was and see now that it's a year and three months later, what's been done. Because if it's nothing, that's not good enough.

[Chris Cuomo]

It's hard for people in power to not use the power. And that's where regulation comes from. Some of it is obviously necessary.

[Bill Maher]

They've got to cut the red tape. This is a blue state that runs completely on red.

[Chris Cuomo]

Wow. Look, I mean, you can have a whole conversation with him about what he's doing with Medicaid. You guys give a lot of services to a lot of people who aren't legally in the state. And yes, you have a lot of people who are legal in the country, but you got stuff to talk about. Let me ask you this last question. You're going to meet with the President. I am so Kid Rock makes it happen. What do you think has been the response so far? What do you think it will be and why are you doing it? Which I'm totally for, by the way, and I love it.

[Bill Maher]

I get it. Well, I'm doing it because, first of all, it was presented as a dare. Not a dare, no. Just like maybe this is a beginning to heal America. Now, I don't have some sort of complex where I think I can heal America. I can't. Okay, let's get that clear. I'm not going to be healing America. But if two guys who've been at each other for so long, I mean, it's kind of a Nixon to China thing. I have the credentials. There was nobody who was harder on Trump or more prescient about the fact that he wasn't going to leave office voluntarily than I was. I feel like I have the credentials, but they also respect me because I'm honest about the Woke Train to Crazy Town, and I don't shrink from that. And I've also lost a lot of fans for that. The Woke people have left the building, and I'm willing to make that sacrifice. But it does give you a certain credibility. So I just think to meet somebody. First of all, it's an honor to be invited to the White House.

[Chris Cuomo]

Yes, it is.

[Bill Maher]

And I've already had a couple of people who I said to them, you know, I'm just going to take it as a backhanded compliment that you glide right past the idea that little Bill Maher from Rivervale, New Jersey, just a humble kid from the suburbs, was invited for a private dinner to the White House. You glide right past that to how dare you talk to him? And that you're not impressed by it at all. I'm impressed by it a lot. I'm impressed the fuck out of it. I get to go to the White House. And yes, that is the structure of this dinner is just, let's talk. Let's talk to each other face to face. Let's not stop shouting from 3,000 miles away. You know, so if they expect me to be leaving in a MAGA hat, they're going to be very disappointed. But I know they don't. And I think it's going to be, you know, look, it probably will accomplish very little, but you gotta try, man. You gotta try.

[Chris Cuomo]

I love it. You know, Kanye. Bill Maher, thank you very much.

[Bill Maher]

Appreciate you.

[Chris Cuomo]

Love being with you, bud.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. This was so much fun.

[Chris Cuomo]

And I love that you're going. I think it's great for. Exactly.

[Bill Maher]

It is great, isn't it?

[Chris Cuomo]

100.

[Bill Maher]

Yes.

[Chris Cuomo]

And I will celebrate it when it happens.

[Bill Maher]

Great. I appreciate that.

[Chris Cuomo]

Bill Maher, top of class. I say it all the time. And he proves it again and again and again. I'm Chris Cuomo. Thank you for joining me on the Chris Cuomo Project. Appreciate you subscribing and following and going to the substack for five bucks a month. There's so much content on there, it's embarrassing how much I have on there. And thank you for checking me out at NewsNation, 8P, 11P Eastern every weekday night. The challenges are real. The solution is simple. Let's get after it.