For those who may not be aware, there’s a long-running dedicated thread here in the Pit on Real Time with Bill Maher, in which both the show and the man himself are discussed. The Trump dinner was discussed in that thread at the time it was current, which was many months ago. I don’t see what additional value this one is contributing.
FWIW, I defend Maher when I feel he needs defending, and I criticize him when I feel he doesn’t. His bloviations about the Trump dinner was one of those times when I felt Maher was absolutely indefensible – he seized on the opportunity to court and exploit controversy, to declare “I’ve been there and I know better than youi” delivered with his trademark smugness.
But he also makes good points on his show and has a lot of interesting guests and informative conversations, even if sometimes coloured by his own biases. And to be fair, the “smug” thing is at least partially derived from the “New Rules” segment, where the smugness is part of the act – it’s right in the name “New Rules” – “these are what I declare the new rules must be!” It’s a comedy act, people, trying to deliver insights in comedic and intentionally hyperbolic form!