Patton Oswalt says Bill Maher was wrong to try to 'placate' Trump, argues it always backfires

Comedian Patton Oswalt criticized "Real Time" host Bill Maher this week over what he described as Maher’s attempts to "placate" President Donald Trump, arguing the comedian was wrong to believe he could find common ground with Trump without eventually becoming a target himself.

"The reason that Trump is turning on Bill Maher is because Bill tried to, I’m sure with good intentions, placate him and you can’t do that with him," Oswalt told SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah, contrasting Maher's approach to notoriously anti-Trump hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert.

"Colbert and Kimmel... Trump hates them, but he hates them because they don’t love him. He wants them to love him, and then the minute they love him, he has zero respect for them because, deep down, he hates himself," he resumed.

"You just have to stick with your guns and just go, 'Yeah, this guy sucks.' In the long run, it will pay out, and anyone who does business with Trump, you would just think basic greed would make you want to defy him, because anyone that does business with him, you get destroyed!"

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Patton Oswalt, left, attends Warner Bros. "The Big Picture" Cinema Con 2026 at Caesars Palace on April 14, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada.; Bill Maher, right, visits The Megyn Kelly Show at the SiriusXM Studios on May 20, 2024 in New York City. (David Jon/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures; Noam Galai/Getty Images)

Oswalt's remarks appeared to reference a February incident in which Trump lashed out at Maher on Truth Social after the HBO host continued his occasional anti-Trump rhetoric following a dinner between the two at the White House last year.

Trump had specifically taken aim at Maher over comments that mocked him for suggesting that China would end all hockey in Canada as the two countries deepened their economic ties.

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President Donald Trump arrives at the commencement ceremony on Cadet Memorial Field at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., on May 20. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

He started off by calling his dinner with Maher a "waste [of] time" and then accusing Maher of being nervous at their initial meeting before making broader criticisms of his show and ratings.

"He was very mad at me because I didn’t get his joke about how China is gonna make Canada give up hockey," Maher responded at the time.

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Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel appear in a split-screen image. Oswalt referenced the two anti-Trump comedians in his remarks. (Getty Images)

"You know, I think we’re going to have to workshop that one for a while."

Maher defended himself against the other criticisms Trump made,

"[Trump] went off on me and said the dinner we had was a waste of time. Well, I didn’t think it was," he said.

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"And then I’m a jerk, and I’m at low ratings, lightweight, and all this s---. Because I never stopped criticizing him. I never said I would."

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Maher's "Real Time" show for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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