“Real Time” host Bill Maher on Friday highlighted some dire approval numbers for President Donald Trump amid his ongoing war on Iran, an unpopular conflict Maher initially supported, enumerating some upcoming MAGA events that don’t seem to be working as a distraction.
Approval Rating Hits New Low
“I tell you, due to the war and the gas prices, and like nine other things, Trump’s approval rating, lowest ever, 34%,” Maher said Friday. “Even underwater with white people who did not go to college. That was always his base. That’s like Taco Bell losing stoners.”
Maher appeared to be citing a YouGov/Economist poll published Wednesday that shows only 34% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, the lowest figure recorded in the survey across both his terms in office.
MAGA Events Under Scrutiny
The comedian and political pundit continued, “I mean, really, losing the non-college-educated white people? What does he have to do, stage UFC fights on the lawn? Oh, we’re doing that, I forgot. We actually are doing that, that’s right. My bad.”
Trump announced last year that the White House will hold an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the South Lawn on his 80th birthday on June 14, 2026. The administration organized a $45 million military parade in Washington, D.C., for his 79th birthday last year.
Earlier this year, Trump purchased somewhere between $15,001 and $50,000 of stock in TKO Group Holdings, the UFC parent company, according to a HuffPost review of his May 12 financial disclosure filing. It is the latest in a series of clear conflicts of interest for the increasingly wealthy president.
State Fair Lineup Controversy
Maher also touched on the “Great American State Fair” series of concerts on the National Mall this summer that is being curated by Freedom 250, a self-described “non-partisan organization” Trump created with an executive order to help mark America’s 250th anniversary.
“We’re having a big 250th birthday party for America concert,” Maher said Friday. “They announced the lineup: Oh, Vanilla Ice — I’m not making that up — Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, Morris Day, Bret Michaels. I think this is very admirable about the president. It shows he’s concerned for the unemployed.”
He continued, “And then after they announced this all-star lineup, a lot of them said, ‘No, what are you talking about? We’re not playing.’ That’s gotta hurt a lot when you can’t close the deal with Milli Vanilli.”
Numerous artists have indeed backed out of the 16-day event, leaving only a few major artists officially remaining on the lineup. The “Great American State Fair” is slated to be held June 25 to July 10.
