White House Shoots Down Report Bill Maher Is Getting Prestigious Kennedy Center Prize

The White House is denying a report from The Atlantic about Bill Maher, a longtime critic of President Donald Trump, receiving the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center later this year.

“Maher has been chosen to receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, two people familiar with the selection told us. One of them, who works at the center, said an announcement is expected soon,” reported Jonathan L, Fischer and Ashley Parker on Friday. “A third person said that Maher had been offered the award—and that Trump had been supportive of the idea— but was not sure whether Maher had accepted it. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because Maher has not yet been officially announced as the award recipient. As with all decisions involving this president, the move could still be reversed until publicly announced. The White House declined a request for comment.”

White House communications director Steven Cheung commented on the matter by calling it “Literally FAKE NEWS.”

After a brief détente last year during which Maher visited the White House to break bread with Trump, the pair have resumed their old sparring positions. For his part, the president fired off the following missive on Truth Social last month:

Sometimes in life you waste time! T.V. Host Bill Maher asked to have dinner with me through one of his friends, also a friend of mine, and I agreed. He came into the famed Oval Office much different than I thought he would be. He was extremely nervous, had ZERO confidence in himself and, to soothe his nerves, immediately, within seconds, asked for a “Vodka Tonic.” He said to me, “I’ve never felt like this before, I’m actually scared.” In one respect, it was somewhat endearing! Anyway, we had a great dinner, it was quick, easy, and he seemed to be a nice guy and, for his first show after our dinner, he was very respectful about our meeting — But with everything I have done in bringing our Country back from “OBLIVION,” why wouldn’t he be? But then I noticed his show started to devolve into the same old story — Very boring, ANTI TRUMP, no mention of the PERFECT Border, Lowest Crime in 125 years, the Mass Removal of Stone Cold Criminals, the 50,000 DOW, the 7,000 S&P (Both Highest Ever!), Least Number of Murders since 1900, Venezuela, “Midnight Hammer,” Soleimani DEAD, al-Baghdadi DEAD, Lowest Inflation in YEARS (1.2% for last three months!), the Rebuilding of our Military, Eight War Stoppages, and on, and on, and on! In any event, it was a total waste of time for me to have this jerk at the White House and last night, after explaining what a DISASTER Canadian “Leaders” are to deal with, how Canada has “ripped off” the United States for years on TRADE (But not anymore!), I jokingly stated in a TRUTH that, “The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup.” Well, he went on and on about the Hockey statement, like “What kind of a person would say such a foolish thing as this,” as though I were being serious when I said it. Fortunately, his Television Ratings are so low that nobody will learn about his various Fake News statements about me. He is no different than Kimmel, Fallon, or Colbert but, I must admit, slightly more talented! Anyway, Bill Maher is a highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT, and Republicans should stop using him to show how the Left is coming over our way — Our Base, the Greatest of All Time, laughs at your weakness when you do it! Maher asked me if he could come back to the White House again and, with his friend, also asked to come to the wonderful White House Christmas Party, but he didn’t. Regardless, I’d much rather spend my time MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN than wasting it on him. Bill continues to suffer from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS!), and there is nothing that will ever be done to cure him of this very serious disease. Thank you for your attention to this minor matter! President DJT

And just last weekend, Maher characterized Trump’s as “the most macho administration we’ve ever had,” but also “the gayest.”

“I gotta say. I don’t mean litera–, I just, a lot of redecorating. I’m just saying. Also, Trump has a new thing. I’m not making this up. He’s guessing other men’s shoe size. Have you seen, am I making this sh*t up? I’m, he has been,” continued Maher. ” He looks at other men and guesses their shoe size and then they send them a pair. The entire Cabinet is wearing shoes. He got them, including Marco Rubio, where they didn’t fit, so he’s in clown shoes. I’m just saying. It’s a little weird for a man to look at other men and go, ‘What you got down there, a nine and a half?'”

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!