{"id":693196,"date":"2026-06-09T09:08:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T09:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/693196\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T09:08:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T09:08:22","slug":"bill-maher-argues-freedom-250-concert-has-nothing-to-do-with-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/693196\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Maher Argues Freedom 250 Concert Has Nothing To Do With Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re assuming that Bill Maher<\/a> is quite the yogi, because he twisted himself in knots to make a stretch of an argument.<\/p>\n

On Friday\u2019s episode of HBO\u2019s \u201cReal Time,\u201d host Maher decided to pooh-pooh the artists who pulled out<\/a> of the President Donald Trump<\/a>-backed Freedom 250 concerts for the Great American State Fair on the National Mall \u2014 and his argument ignores the giant Trump-shaped elephant in the room.<\/p>\n

\"Sen.Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bill Maher on HBO\u2019s \u201cReal Time\u201d Friday.<\/p>\n

Screenshot \u201cReal Time with Bill Maher\u201d via Snapstream<\/p>\n

Concerts aren\u2019t the only events scheduled to celebrate America\u2019s 250th anniversary. Trump also tied his 80th birthday on June 14 into the festivities by erecting a UFC cage on the White House\u2019s South Lawn<\/a> for a bloody bout on his special day. A racetrack is also being built around Washington, D.C., for a Freedom 250 Grand Prix<\/a> event in August. <\/p>\n

\"ConstructionConstruction continues Friday on the South Lawn of the White House for the Freedom 250 UFC match in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Kevin Carter via Getty Images<\/p>\n

After Maher poked some fun at Trump by calling him a \u201credneck president\u201d for the types of events he chose to throw for the celebration, the comedian moved on to make his argument against artists like Poison\u2019s Bret Michaels<\/a>, Milli Vanilli <\/a>and The Commodores,<\/a> who dropped out of the Freedom 250 concert lineup after it was announced.<\/p>\n

Maher began by saying the 250th anniversary celebration \u201cwas not planned as a specific Trump thing or a specific MAGA thing.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThey all pulled out,\u201d Maher said, before claiming they did so to appease the left. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a question about what looks best for the Democrats, because I don\u2019t think that looks good,\u201d Maher said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like you are just what people say about you \u2014 you don\u2019t really love America. It looks like you think Trump is more important than the country itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA banner of Trump with the \u201c250\u201d branding is displayed last month on the U.S. Department of Labor Frances Perkins Building in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Kevin Carter via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Maher said the event is now \u201cjust a big MAGA rally,\u201d because it\u2019ll just be \u201cTrump and [\u201cGod Bless the USA\u201d singer] Lee Greenwood.\u201d <\/p>\n

Maher went on to argue that the event is nonpartisan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWouldn\u2019t it be better to play this gig?\u201d Maher said. \u201cIt\u2019s a monthlong gig. Lots of people like just celebrating America. Can\u2019t we all just celebrate America itself and leave Trump out of it?\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This is when one of Maher\u2019s guests, Sen. Chris Murphy<\/a> (D-Conn.), pointed out that it\u2019s hard to view the event as neutral, considering Trump made the event about himself rather than the country.<\/p>\n

After Murphy noted that his kids are \u201cexcited about the D.C. race\u201d and that the lineup of events will definitely get some folks hyped, Murphy broke down why people view the 250 festivities as a thinly veiled celebration of Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s what happened,\u201d Murphy began. \u201cThere was a nonpartisan, apolitical effort to celebrate America\u2019s 250th anniversary. And instead of just letting that effort go forward, Donald Trump took it over, right, to create a parallel set of events.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy understanding is these artists thought that they were going to the nonpartisan effort, and then when they found out that it was just a predicate to a Trump rally, they didn\u2019t want to be part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this would have been a lot better for the country if Trump had decided to just let professionals, let people who just care about celebrating America with no political agenda, be part of this,\u201d Murphy concluded. \u201cI agree there\u2019s no reason to overly politicize this, but Trump decided to politicize it by essentially shutting down the citizens who were leading it and turning it into a big MAGA event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the entire exchange above.<\/p>\n