Bill Maher isn’t backing down after being criticized for having dinner with President Donald Trump. On his Club Random podcast, Maher directly called out actor Sean Penn for what he labeled blatant hypocrisy.
“You’ve sat down with Hugo Chavez, you’ve met with Fidel Castro,” Maher said, “but you draw the line at a former U.S. president?”
Penn, a long-time critic of Trump, insisted he would never sit with the former president, calling him “too triggering.” But Maher pushed back hard, arguing that listening to someone doesn’t mean endorsing them—and that he had nothing to apologize for.
“It’s like refusing a medical test because you’re afraid of the results,” Maher said. “I wanted to hear it from the source.”
The two clashed over the concept of engagement. Penn, who has famously visited war zones and authoritarian regimes under the banner of diplomacy and activism, claimed he wouldn’t “believe a word” Trump said at such a meeting. Maher countered that avoiding the conversation altogether reveals more about ideological blind spots than moral principle.
“I didn’t go there thinking I’d change my mind about anything,” Maher clarified. “But I came away understanding more about how he thinks—and that’s worth something.”
?NEW: Bill Maher SCOLDS Sean Penn for saying he *wouldn’t* have dinner with TRUMP?
MAHER: “You’ll meet with f*cking Castro and Hugo Chavez — but not the President of the United States?”
PENN: “Yeah … if I were, let’s say, representing a cause célèbre … I would not fool… pic.twitter.com/QNP9gcLwbZ
— Jason Cohen ?? (@JasonJournoDC) June 15, 2025
The tense exchange marks another moment in Maher’s ongoing effort to defend open dialogue, even with people he strongly disagrees with. In an increasingly polarized culture, Maher’s message was simple: talk to everyone, fear no one.
