Bill Maher Tells CNN’s Jake Tapper He’s Still Afraid Of Trump: ‘Anything Is Possible With This Guy’

CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked comic, pundit, and podcast host Bill Maher if he is still “afraid” of what President-elect Donald Trump will do when he takes office, and Maher responded that yes, he is.

Maher just released his 13th HBO comedy special Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?, which debuted on Friday night and is streaming on Max. He’s also the host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and the Club Random With Bill Maher Podcast. The comic is a frequent and vociferous critic of Trump, but also trains his sights on President Joe Biden, the Democrats, and what he sees as an overly “woke” liberal movement.

On Friday’s edition of CNN’s The Lead, Tapper interviewed Maher about his special — noting at the top “CNN and HBO both owned by Warner Brothers Discovery.”

Tapper alluded to a 2023 interview in which Maher expressed fear of a second Trump term, and asked “How do you feel now” with Trump taking power in less than 2 weeks:

TAPPER: Donald Trump has spent a lot of time criticizing you. You told me a couple years ago on — on air that you were — you were afraid of what Trump could theoretically do if he ever were returned to the White House. How do you feel now?

MAHER: Yes, it’s possible. Do I think he’s going to start arresting comedians? I don’t, but it’s possible. Look, anything’s possible with this guy. I’ll put it this way. When George Bush was in the White House, it never even entered my mind, never entered my mind that I couldn’t say whatever I wanted to say without repercussions. And that’s one of the great things about living in America and we take America for granted and that kind of stuff. And maybe we can’t anymore, so we’ll see. But am I going to let it affect what I do? No. I mean, the day I feel like I can’t say what I want without going to Guantanamo Bay, I’ll just leave.

Watch above via CNN’s The Lead.

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