Bill Maher Reveals What He Finds Scary About Trump & Makes Midterms Prediction

Martin Holmes October 20, 2026, 8:05 am

What To Know

Bill Maher predicted that Donald Trump is “cooked” ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
Maher and Michael Douglas discussed their concerns about Trump’s unpredictability and past actions.
The comedian recently attended a second White House dinner with the president.

Real Time host Bill Maher might have had a second dinner with Donald Trump last week, but that hasn’t stopped him from criticizing the president ahead of the upcoming midterms.

Maher shared his predictions for the November elections on Monday (October 19) during a conversation with Michael Douglas on the Club Random podcast. After Douglas said he believes a lot of Republicans are in “serious trouble,” Maher said of Trump, “I think he’s cooked.”

During the episode, which was recorded before Maher’s second White House dinner with the president, the comedian went back and forth between praising and criticizing Trump. Looking back on the time before Trump became president for the first time, Maher said he and other left-leaning celebrities were a little “hysterical” about it all.

“It’s been 10 years, let’s be honest… our lives are good,” Maher said, per The Huffington Post. “He didn’t f***ing end the world.”

However, Maher added that he and others had “good reason” to be worried at the time. “He’s a maniac who does fascist things and pals [around with] dictators and you know, that kind of s***, and ICE and just scary s***,” he stated.

Douglas shared that it’s Trump’s “unpredictability” that scares him, adding, “Truthfully… I was born in 1944, and this is the worst time I can remember in my lifetime. Not just the States, but worldwide.”

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Maher seemed a little taken aback at first but then agreed with the Oscar-winning actor. Douglas also shared his personal interactions with Trump, saying, “I knew him… I’ve known him in New York. He was a funny guy. Sort of a self-deprecating sense of humor.” At that time, Douglas said Trump didn’t display a “fascist mentality.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Maher joked about how Trump thought the comedian would “go MAGA” after their first dinner date in March 2025. Maher faced criticism for attending the dinner.

On Friday (October 17), Trump spoke with reporters about his get-together with Maher, which also included Kid Rock and Stephen A. Smith.

“It was a great dinner. It was a very informative dinner,” Trump said. “Smart people. Stephen A. is great. Bill Maher, I tell you what, he likes me a lot more than people understand. And I actually like him. It was a good dinner. We talked about everything. It lasted a long time. And, you know, even though they have to sort of put on a certain little facade for their people, they like Trump, and I actually like them.”