Bill Maher Thinks His Late Night Show Is the Funniest

The "Real Time" host talks to Vanity Fair about liberals, the media, and how to take down Trump.

Bill Maher Performs During New York Comedy Festival. (Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)
Bill Maher Performs During New York Comedy Festival. (Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)
Getty Images

Bill Maher thinks he has figured out a way to take down President Trump: Stop making him the center of attention.

“I think everyone in the media faces the same problem with Donald Trump, which is the dilemma of: we don’t want to give him all the oxygen, and it’s very easy to, because he is so dominant, and it’s amazing how much every issue involves Donald Trump in some way,” Maher said to Vanity Fair. “On the other hand, we wanna cover him. We’re derelict in our duty if we don’t cover him.”

Maher’s 11th stand-up special for HBO, Bill Maher: Live from Oklahoma, debuts on July 7. Last week, HBO also announced it was renewing Real Time with Bill Maher, which will keep the comedian on air for at least two more seasons. Maher thinks that his show is funnier than other late night shows, but he also thinks he is better at telling viewers what’s important. He claims that his show dares to say things no one else will, and its about more than his unwavering commitment to political incorrectness.

“I’ve done all these other shows,” said Maher, according to Vanity Fair. “I know how they think; I know the atmosphere. And the last thing in the world that they ever want to do, the most important thing is, just do not say anything that will upset the audience. Make them cheer like f-cking seals for everything we say. Well, that’s just not interesting to me . . . And it doesn’t have a hell of a lot of integrity, I don’t think, either.”

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