Bill Maher Grills Karoline Leavitt on ‘Lame Duck’ Donald Trump & Midterms

Bill Maher grilled the former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about “lame duck” President Donald Trump and the midterm elections.

On the Friday, October 23 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, Maher, 70, sat down with Leavitt, 29, who resigned from her role in August. (She begins her new role at Fox News on November 1.)

“I worry that if this election goes as badly as it looks like it’s gonna go for him and Republicans, we’re gonna have a guy who doesn’t have as much power as he did, and he’s just… we know he likes vengeance,” Maher pointed out during their chat.

The late-night host then asked, “Do you worry about these last two years — what any president would call a lame duck time, even a successful presidency — what’s he gonna be like in that scenario?”

To that, Leavitt replied, “I don’t worry about it, actually. And I think, you know, we understand where history is with these midterm elections coming up, I think in 11 days. The president does have a way of defying history. He was in the Oval Office not once but twice, and every poll said he wouldn’t make it there.”

She added, “So I think he’s working really hard out on the road to turn Republicans out to vote. So let’s wait and see before jumping to conclusions on the midterms.”

Even if things don’t go well for Republicans, Leavitt said, “I don’t worry about the president. Look, he loves our country very much. And he wants to make it right. And he has said, you’ve heard him say this, ‘I will work with Democrats to do what’s best.'”

Related

Bill Maher Rips Into Donald Trump After Second White House Dinner

After pointing out Trump’s collaborative efforts with Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, Leavitt declared, “If more Democrats actually want to work with the president, he is always the type of guy who is willing to do that. And I think you’ve seen that yourself at the White House.”

Maher used that as his jumping-off point to bring up a conversation he had with Trump during their recent White House dinner. In doing so, he brought up Starlink and Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, who died in July.

“Honestly, I think what he is doing is unconscionable. And Lindsay Graham was the guy who always talked him out of that,” the stand-up comedian said. “If Lindsay Graham was alive, I just don’t think that Trump would be doing the stuff he’s doing — basically putting a knife in the back of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky.”

Maher continued, “And also, he was going to do an execution a couple of weeks ago. Somebody talked him out of that. Remember that? We’re gonna have a live execution of the Fort Hood shooter?

Still, Maher conceded, of Trump, “He does listen when he’s in that White House. He looks you in the eye. He never interrupts. He never gets mad. He listens.”

Leavitt agreed, telling Maher, “He does. And he surveys the room.” She added that she finds it “admirable” that Trump “asks the opinions of everyone” in the room. “Whether it’s a low-level staffer or his chief of staff, he genuinely wants to know how people feel, what they think,” she said. “He takes their counsel and advice. And then I think he makes the best decision he believes is best for the country in that moment.”

Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays at 10/9c, HBO