HBO Real Time host Bill Maher recapped his recent meeting with President Donald Trump on Friday’s show where he emphasized the importance of talking to people even if you disagree with them. He also claimed that Trump, in private, is quite personable as contrasted with the more combative public persona that people either love or hate. However, Washington Post foreign policy columnist Josh Rogin was not a fan as he showered Maher with praise despite claiming he fell “into the trap,” leading Maher to shoot back “you don’t have to patronize me, dude.”
After Rogin’s fellow panelist Piers Morgan expressed his agreement that there is a difference between private and public Trump, Rogin sought to counter, “Counterpoint? You know, Bill, I think you're right in saying that people make too much of this. Okay, it’s not the Yalta Summit; you're not Churchill, Kid Rock is not Stalin. Trump, sure as shit, isn't FDR, okay, so yes, I believe too much has been made about this but I think you've fallen into the trap, I think I represent 99 percent of the internet when I say this is that you have played the game of proximity is principal.”
Rogin sought to insulate himself from blowback by making sure to add, “what people are worried about -- it's not your motivation, we believe you, we love you, everybody loves Bill, right? So, I'm not questioning motivation, I’m questioning Trump’s, okay and if we can say that you went there in good faith, but maybe, just maybe he wasn't there in good faith. I mean, you sold him on the Iran deal, and he took it in, give me a break, okay, so the idea here is that your motivation is sound but what's the impact? And I think a lot of people out there, fans of yours, people who love you, people who are fans of you, like me—”
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