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A longtime critic of President Trump surprised viewers over the weekend when he shared his plans to sit down with him.
On an episode of his Club Random podcast on Sunday, Bill Maher hosted fellow comedian Andrew Schulz and revealed plans for his upcoming meeting with Trump.
Maher said Kid Rock, a longtime supporter of President Trump who has encouraged other celebrities to be open with their views, planned to arrange the meeting.
Maher acknowledged there would be pushback from his side of the political aisle but said he would not be swayed by those who disapprove.
“There will be lots of people on the left who will be like, how dare you talk to this man?” Maher said.
Maher and Schulz agreed that in the wake of the election, it was important to be open to discussions with people regardless of their political views.
“You lost the election,” Maher said. “It’s one thing if you win it. It’s another thing if you lose it.”
“You’ve got to start talking to people,” Schulz said.
Maher said he sees a trend of left-wing politicians trying to be more open to conversation with the other side after Trump’s decisive victory in November.
“I see Gavin Newsom doing this now… We’ve got to get more of this going.”
Schulz agreed, pointing out voters seem to have an aversion to candidates who are afraid to have conversations with people who might have opposing viewpoints.
“It’s not American,” said Maher.
Schulz said he thought Trump’s willingness to talk to people was one of his greatest strengths. He shared that when he interviewed Trump on his Flagrant podcast during the campaign, Trump was willing to have an open discussion with him without placing any limits on the conversation.
“He’s going to talk to me,” Maher said. “Who’s been meaner than me?”
“Only J.D. Vance,” quipped Schulz.
Maher described the opportunity to visit the White House as an honor and said he wants to be able to talk to people even if they disagree.
“You can not like Trump. You can hate him. You can’t hate everybody who voted for him. I don’t hate half the country and I don’t want to hate half the country, so yes I will talk to anybody and it’s an honor to be invited to the White House under any circumstance,” Maher said.