![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791724812_893_poster.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe comedian has rushed to Trump\u2019s defense, telling his audience to \u201cbe fair\u201d to the president.<\/p>\n
Bill Maher has defended President Donald Trump\u2019s incendiary suggestion that Iran could \u201ctake out Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump defended higher gas prices this week as a \u201csmall price to pay\u201d for keeping Americans safe, then said, \u201cLet them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.\u201d Outrage ensued, while Trump insisted he was invoking the cities as examples of what a nuclear-armed Iran could attack, saying higher fuel costs were preferable to destruction.<\/p>\n
Maher corroborated Trump\u2019s defense on his Friday show, saying, \u201cLet\u2019s be fair.\u201d He said the \u201csmall price\u201d the president meant was high gas prices.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t saying that we were encouraging Iran,\u201d Maher said, defending the president. \u201cBut still, you don\u2019t want to say that to people in this city. We live here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was among the California Democrats who called Trump\u2019s sloppiness out. She called the remarks horrifying and \u201cegregious,\u201d saying the president should not treat major American cities as expendable.<\/p>\n
Maher, 70, ribbed Bass over her response, saying, \u201cShe immediately got on the phone with her travel agent.\u201d That appears to refer to her trip to Ghana during the devastating January 2025 Los Angeles fires.<\/p>\n
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Maher has gotten backlash for softening Trump\u2019s public image before. He described the president as \u201cgracious and measured\u201d on an April 11 episode of Real Time, referring to Trump\u2019s demeanor during a White House dinner Maher attended.<\/p>\n
![\"Actor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/OOEL2UWHG5CWLOPZ4CF46MDNJI.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Actor Bill Maher and Donald Trump attend the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in 2004.<\/p>\n
Kevin Winter\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The comedian regularly hits out at Trump, too, however, and did so again on Friday. <\/p>\n
Discussing the upcoming midterm elections, he noted that Trump has become so unpopular he is being forced to campaign in states that \u201cno Republican usually has to campaign in,\u201d like ruby red Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Alabama.<\/p>\n
He called it \u201cthat time when we give out money,\u201d referring to Trump\u2019s promises of $90 checks to people on Medicare, $500 checks to people on Obamacare, and $5,000 to every American if the Republicans somehow maintain control of Congress in November.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is what the kids call being thirsty,\u201d Maher joked.<\/p>\n
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