I’ve been collecting New Yorker cartoons for over 30 years, and each week on my Substack, my guest at Club Random and I pick a few and describe them to each other to see if they still hold up.
Bill Maher Gets Charmed by the Devil and Misses the Point Entirely
Bill Maher went to the White House, dined with Donald Trump, Kid Rock, and Dana White, and came back with the hard-hitting revelation that—brace yourself—Trump can laugh at a joke in private.
On Real Time, Maher recounted the dinner like a middle schooler who got to sit at the cool kids’ table. He bragged that Trump was “gracious and measured,” seemed self-aware, and didn’t eject him through a trap door when lightly teased. But here’s the problem: none of that matters.
Maher’s entire takeaway hinges on Trump’s demeanor—not his policies, not the mass firings, not the death cult cabinet, not the authoritarian power grabs, not the censorship, cruelty, or corruption. Just that he seemed less unhinged in private. As if that’s supposed to be comforting.
It’s not.
Trump's public persona is what shapes this country. It’s the one banning books, attacking trans kids, undermining elections, dismantling environmental protections, and fanning the flames of hate. Whether he giggles over Diet Cokes behind closed doors is utterly irrelevant to the people suffering under his regime.
What Maher fails to grasp—spectacularly—is that we don’t judge tyrants by how they act at steak dinners. We judge them by what they do with power. And Trump is wielding his with vengeance, cruelty, and zero accountability.
To reduce this national nightmare to “he’s not that bad in person” isn’t just clueless—it’s complicit. It softens the monster, normalizes the madness, and feeds the lie that this is all just political theater.
Maher didn’t “own” Trump. He got played—flattered, distracted, and turned into a court jester for a wannabe despot.
Congrats, Bill. You got a laugh. The rest of us got a dictator.
“You were once a principled voice for progress. Now you’re a cultural weapon in the right’s war on transgender lives." — Plus, a warning for Democratic lawmakers
Bill, you are a white privilege man! You're a womanizer with a bank account and you want to profess your moral superiority, GTF outta here. Short yt man with a big ego = Big truck, small…
Loved you forever, watched you forever too. People love to laugh. The only thing worse than watching two people laugh is pressing mute. It's a tough call.
Another White Male traitor saying he went to the White House to change Trumps mind…Yeah okay, so now he is a psycho therapist? I think he just wanted to kiss ass but why is my question.
🤡 DAILY DUNCE
Bill Maher Gets Charmed by the Devil and Misses the Point Entirely
Bill Maher went to the White House, dined with Donald Trump, Kid Rock, and Dana White, and came back with the hard-hitting revelation that—brace yourself—Trump can laugh at a joke in private.
On Real Time, Maher recounted the dinner like a middle schooler who got to sit at the cool kids’ table. He bragged that Trump was “gracious and measured,” seemed self-aware, and didn’t eject him through a trap door when lightly teased. But here’s the problem: none of that matters.
Maher’s entire takeaway hinges on Trump’s demeanor—not his policies, not the mass firings, not the death cult cabinet, not the authoritarian power grabs, not the censorship, cruelty, or corruption. Just that he seemed less unhinged in private. As if that’s supposed to be comforting.
It’s not.
Trump's public persona is what shapes this country. It’s the one banning books, attacking trans kids, undermining elections, dismantling environmental protections, and fanning the flames of hate. Whether he giggles over Diet Cokes behind closed doors is utterly irrelevant to the people suffering under his regime.
What Maher fails to grasp—spectacularly—is that we don’t judge tyrants by how they act at steak dinners. We judge them by what they do with power. And Trump is wielding his with vengeance, cruelty, and zero accountability.
To reduce this national nightmare to “he’s not that bad in person” isn’t just clueless—it’s complicit. It softens the monster, normalizes the madness, and feeds the lie that this is all just political theater.
Maher didn’t “own” Trump. He got played—flattered, distracted, and turned into a court jester for a wannabe despot.
Congrats, Bill. You got a laugh. The rest of us got a dictator.
🔘 Subscribe » Open Letters by Mersault
Truth. I’m kind of sad that my stomach won’t allow me to watch Bill Maher anymore.
“You were once a principled voice for progress. Now you’re a cultural weapon in the right’s war on transgender lives." — Plus, a warning for Democratic lawmakers
https://patricemersault.substack.com/p/dear-bill-maher-you-used-to-speak?utm_source=app-post-stats-page&r=4d7sow&utm_medium=ios
I think the right are afraid to question anything Trump, Musk and Vance order. Democracy has died.
Bill, you are a white privilege man! You're a womanizer with a bank account and you want to profess your moral superiority, GTF outta here. Short yt man with a big ego = Big truck, small…
Is any of this funny?
What's funny is his substack bio. Where's the laugh emoji?
Are you still visiting POTUS today?
Even after he screwed the world and broke the country?
Love you and The New Yorker.
Let me eat cake.
Lmao
2 of the top greatest guys in America
Bill people don’t give a shit about cartoons. Can’t you find something more relevant to talk about
What a great place to chill. I imagine there’s a story behind each …. artifact.
Loved you forever, watched you forever too. People love to laugh. The only thing worse than watching two people laugh is pressing mute. It's a tough call.
Even funnier after a few one hits….
Yaas!! ❤️
This guys an asshole!
Or just show the camera the picture
OMG, I know!
That discomfort you feel is because Larry David published your small testicles in the New York Times today.
Another White Male traitor saying he went to the White House to change Trumps mind…Yeah okay, so now he is a psycho therapist? I think he just wanted to kiss ass but why is my question.
What a waste of time.
TRUMP PLAYED YOU