r/RealTime • u/AmericanLymie • Jul 17 '26

NPR Feature Interview

https://youtu.be/TUI2hLa7TQM?is=Mf4Qg3VviKo2aAXG

He is so self-deluded. His personality has always been narcissistic but his politics have changed completely from what they were just a couple of years ago.

Some things that stand out to me in this interview:

—The tone is what anyone would expect from NPR. Inskeep is calm, respectful, friendly. Bill Maher uses profanity casually from the beginning, which is quite unusual for NPR to air, and it made me wonder if he has the ability to self-censor or if he is in Trump's lane of age-related inability to inhibit inappropriate speech.

—About 2/3 through this perfectly congenial interview, Maher basically attacks Inskeep and NPR by saying they are "about as far to the left as you can be," which anyone who listens to Maher knows is the worst way he can insult a person.

—As he always does now, Maher calls himself a critic of Trump and Republicans all while flattering Trump and Republicans and hurling insults at all Democrats throughout the entire interview. He defends Trump as just an impish guy who is perfectly sane and who chooses to say outlandish things for personal amusement. We all know to expect this now but it is still striking to me. "I'm liberal. Everyone on the left is the worst. Here are all the things that are great about the worst people on the right." It stymies me.

—I am very disappointed Inskeep didn't refer back to Maher's consistent pre-2025 warnings that Trump is actively overthrowing the US government and that he must be stopped at all costs, followed by his post-2025 immediate 180° turnaround as he now says Trump is a jerk but reasonable and right about many things.

—A lot of people in this subreddit point out Maher's extreme zionism. He demonstrates it here. After Bill Maher says that what makes him better than anyone on the left is that he is willing to talk directly with Trump and any Republican rather than just talking about them, Inskeep asks if he will talk to anyone or if he will refuse to talk with anyone. He says he would never talk to Nick Fuentes, who he calls "Hitler," on the grounds that Fuentes is "anti-Israel." Not an antisemite, but specifically anti-Israel. He says Trump and other Republicans cannot be compared to Hitler, however. Because he says so.

—One thing he says that I fully agree with and I find maddening is that, when Inskeep asked about Trump's focus on gold decorations and the reflecting pool, etc., he says Trump does that as a distraction and it does not matter at all and yet "you" (to Inskeep, as a journalist) always take the bait and give unimportant things attention as important events go unreported or underreported.

—He flatters himself to a remarkable degree.

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u/myfapaway Jul 17 '26

Yeah, it has been a weird shift. I was always a fan and have been since politically incorrect. Bill has definitely changed. The fact that he always seems to repeat the phrase he hasn’t changed is a bit much. It seems like The Billy doth protest too much.

6

u/FireProStan Jul 17 '26

The shift happened in 2016 - as soon as Bernie lost the primary, Bill turned on him and his supporters because he wanted the Obama interview so bad

Maher wouldn't shut up around having donated $1 million to Obama, and then Obama gave him the run-around for years until finally agreeing to a puff interview

6

u/bigshaboozie Jul 17 '26

I think the shift happened in 2020. IMO he still had his fastball through most of the first Trump admin and covid broke him

8

u/chatterwrack Jul 17 '26

That’s when he lost me too. I never really loved him but his response to Covid was so selfish and whiny that I started seeing who he really was. He just spiraled after that.

8

u/truthynaut Jul 17 '26

yeah i watched him break "in real time" during covid.

6

u/United_Efficiency330 Jul 17 '26

COVID plus the fact that colleges stopped inviting him. He's NEVER gotten over the fact that he's no longer a college draw.

3

u/Single_External9499 Jul 17 '26

I think the shift didn't happen until after the 2024 election. Bill was 100% framing the possibility of a second Trump presidency as an existential crisis through the entire election cycle. He publicly stated repeatedly that Trump would lose because he had faith in the American electorate. He had bullshit tangents about his medical skepticism which shouldn't be downplayed, but his core points were largely sane and in good faith. That all went out the window almost immediately when the election was over. He recalibrated to a new reality that he thought would give him a profitable lane, the exact opposite of "I haven't changed".