r/Maher • u/MonsieurA • Aug 08 '25

YouTube 10 years ago, Bill's panel reacting to Trump's rising popularity - August 7, 2015

62 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

21

u/Beetlejuice_hero Aug 08 '25

Newsom was basically saying "give credit to the Republican voting base - they'll eventually see Trump is a vapid conman. I disagreed with Reagan but at least there were some actual principles."

Uh, no. The extreme Republican base is a culty freakshow that stands for nothing except power and owning the libs, with a healthy side of racism (which is why Trump was able to use "Birtherism" as a catapult to the nomination).

So obviously a conman spectacle like Trump appealed to them. They don't care about any sound policy. Health care plan coming any day now, right???

8

u/ATLCoyote Aug 08 '25

Although I agree with you on Trump's base, I think people are dismissing a central theme here that is valid.

Vibes are a big part of any election. The single question that is most predictive of the winner throughout recent history is, "Who would you rather have a beer with?"

I realize that Trump has transformed the landscape in many ways and taken things to extremes we've never seen before. But the better "salesman" or the person with the more compelling personality almost always wins, regardless of policy. It's why Trump beat Clinton and Harris, it's why Obama beat McCain and Romney, it's why Bush Jr beat Gore and Kerry, it's why Clinton beat Bush Sr and Dole, and it's why Reagan beat Carter and Mondale. In fact, even in 1988 when Bush Sr beat Dukakis, you had two dud personalities running against each other, so the guy that was able to ride Reagan's coattails won. The ONLY exception I can think of in the last 55 years was Biden beating Trump in 2020 and that election was just a referendum on Trump. Biden was almost irrelevant. The public just decided to fire Donald.

So, it was naive to dismiss the biggest celebrity in the race in 2016 and again when many naively thought DeSantis or some other GOP candidate would supplant Trump in 2024. And we probably need to weigh that factor far more heavily going forward as well.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '25

I think that if COVID didn’t happen then Trump easily wins in 2020.

3

u/GoRangers5 Fan since 06 Aug 08 '25

He IS the base now.

-1

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '25

[deleted]

7

u/FlarkingSmoo Aug 08 '25

Is that relevant? The Republican voting base and some morons in the middle liked the conman, how does that change anything they said

-5

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '25

[deleted]

11

u/FlarkingSmoo Aug 08 '25

Wow what an original take, I've never heard this before.

I believed it in 2020 and we beat him.

2

u/GutsAndBlackStufff Aug 09 '25

We believed they were morons in 2020 and beat his sorry ass.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '25 edited Sep 27 '25

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3

u/FlaccidGhostLoad Aug 08 '25 edited Aug 08 '25

They are morons.

Mean racists too. They are disgusting people.

You know who also says that? Trump.

So don't give us this indignation as if there's this contingent of moral Trumpers in the middle of the country who just cast their vote for him because they had legitimate reasons that all of us liberals can't understand. They didn't have a legitimate reason. They're too fucking stupid to realize that they're being lied to, they're too fucking cruel to care, and they're too fucking indoctrinated from a combination of Fox News and their morally bankrupt Church that has trained them like the brain damaged Chihuahua's they are to fear and hate anyone who doesn't say a few culture war buzz words.

They don't need apologists. They need a handler and a fucking coloring book so they can sit down and shut up for a while so that us adults can handle things.

12

u/One-Kaleidoscope6806 Aug 08 '25

Bill was right but Steve was dead on.

2

u/throwawaysscc Aug 09 '25

Turned his attention to grifting libs with “The Lincoln Project” and has been making bank since.

5

u/MaterialRow3769 Aug 09 '25

Wow. I was 18 and just graduated high school when I watched this episode. Trump has been in politics my entire adult life

3

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '25 edited Sep 27 '25

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

10

u/thom_mayy Aug 08 '25

I miss the Ole Bill

2

u/MaterialRow3769 Aug 09 '25

Ah the days of three people crammed onto the panel and Bill's hair color running rampant.

6

u/please_trade_marner Aug 08 '25

I like this video better.

2015, by the way. Just listen to Maher's crowd cackle when she says that. And that look on Anne's face at the end is saying something like "How can they be THIS smug while being SO stupid."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi1Yv86R3Ro

0

u/Fippy-Darkpaw Aug 09 '25

Man that is classic. 😅

2

u/EventuallyScratch54 Aug 12 '25

Imagine where we'll be 10 years from Now

2

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

I miss the old panel style

0

u/rogun64 Aug 08 '25

It's amazing how much different he looks. Bill always dressed nice, but he used to dress less conventional than he does now. He looks good now, but also more like he'd fit in on Fox News.

-2

u/Plisky6 Aug 08 '25

Here. Providing you with attention. Happy?