Bill Maher Accepts 27th Mark Twain Prize as He Says His 2028 Vote Is in Play

Q: After a private dinner, what led a president and a comedian to publicly accuse each other of betrayal?

The public rupture grew out of mismatched expectations after a March 2025 White House dinner arranged by Kid Rock. Bill Maher said the meeting was meant as a chance to talk rather than trade insults, and afterward he told viewers on “Real Time” that Trump had been cordial in private and that the evening “was not terrible.” Maher did not, however, soften his broader criticism of Trump or change his public stance. He said there had been no agreement for him to “switch sides,” and later argued that Trump took this as a personal slight. In Maher’s telling, the president felt “betrayed” because the dinner did not produce public loyalty or a political conversion. Trump then escalated publicly. On Truth Social, he called the dinner “a total waste of time,” accused Maher of “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” and mocked him as a “highly overrated lightweight.” Maher answered by saying Trump had “Bill Maher Derangement Syndrome,” and he continued to frame the episode as proof that open conversation had been mistaken for endorsement. The feud was sharpened by later disputes around Maher’s Mark Twain Prize. Early reports of the honor were dismissed by White House communications as “fake news,” even though Netflix’s Ted Sarandos later said Trump had approved the selection as Kennedy Center board chair. Taken together, the clash stemmed from a private dinner that briefly lowered the temperature, followed by public comments that each side interpreted as disloyalty.

3 articles · Updated · abcnews.com · Jul 19

Bill Maher, honored as the 27th Mark Twain Prize recipient, used an ABC interview to say his 2028 presidential vote is "in play" and that he could back Vice President JD Vance.
Maher tied that openness to his criticism of Democrats as "cowardly" and increasingly dominated by a radical progressive wing, even as he said he wants them to regain some power in the midterms.
On Republicans, Maher said many still will not admit Joe Biden won the 2020 election because "Trump is watching," repeating a point he said directly to Vance.
The award came after friction with Donald Trump, who chairs the Kennedy Center board; Maher said Trump felt "betrayed" after a March 2025 White House dinner arranged by Kid Rock.
The Kennedy Center ceremony recognized Maher's decades as an equal-opportunity political comic, and the 2026 event begins streaming on Netflix on Tuesday.