HBO host Bill Maher tells panelists sportscaster Stephen A. Smith and CNN host Laura Coates that he can’t get “endlessly worked up” about every outrageous thing President Donald Trump does. “He is who he is. I just can’t get constantly, endlessly worked up about the same things, which I recognize. I don’t condoning them. I’m just saying it amazes me that people could be like ‘Donald Trump is getting his ass kissed all the time.’ Like, yeah, yeah,” Maher said on Friday’s edition of “Real Time.”

STEPHEN A. SMITH: I’m in California. I’m in California, Bill. I’m feeling a little bit better right now, but I have to confess to you that over the last couple of weeks, I threw up about three times watching these damn people working for Trump. If I see another one of these administration officials fawning over Donald Trump, I’m going to lose my damn mind. What happened to just doing your job? If somebody wants, I don’t care if it’s Pete Hickseth, I don’t care if it’s Kristi Noem before she ultimately was reassigned. I don’t care if it’s Mark Wayne Mullen, who’s the new secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. I don’t get anybody but Rubio because he hasn’t done that. He’s been the adult in the room, the vice president himself. If they went and got the president a cup of coffee, they literally are saying, I just want to applaud your great leadership. He’s such a wonderful, great. We are so lucky to have him in office. I mean, the kiss, excuse my language. The kissing of his ass is so, it’s so nauseating. It’s so nauseating. And listen, I’m saying, I’m not saying, I’m not saying don’t do your job. I’m not saying if you believe in his vision, don’t be loyal to him. I’m not saying any of that. But the fawning, they don’t know breeds such a flagrant level of distrust. Because if you fawn over him so much, you’re shoving or throwing objectivity right out the window. And then the chances of us believing that you would ever disagree with him or you would ever speak against him in any way on behalf of the American people is not something we can trust. [APPLAUSE] BILL MAHER, ‘REAL TIME’ HOST: It’s all true, I couldn’t I couldn’t argue with any. I’m just amazed that 10 years on, people are just still that agitated about it. I just — I’m used to it. SMITH: Agitated about what? MAHER: What you just said. The fawning. SMITH: Yes. MAHER: I mean, I was doing bits about this, you know, back before I was wearing glasses. SMITH: But I don’t know if it was this bad. MAHER: I know, but it’s been going on for a very long time. I’m just like he is who he is. I just can’t get constantly — SMITH: I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about the people around him. MAHER: — endlessly worked up about the same things, which I recognize. I don’t condoning them. I’m just saying it amazes me that people could be like “Donald Trump is getting his ass kissed all the time.” Like, yeah, yeah. LAURA COATES: But if you if you stop caring and then you stop caring. MAHER: That’s not caring — I’m just but that’s, you know, that’s the net in the tennis game. It’s not going away. How do we still win the game? SMITH: But it’s not it’s not that it’s not going away. It’s growing. It’s — I mean, it’s worse than I literally mean if they walk up to him and hand him a cup of coffee, they have to breathe. They have to give you a soliloquy about how wonderful and marvelous. MAHER: But here’s the thing. Here’s the thing. The Democrats, we’re going to have a midterm elections very soon. Now, here’s the stats that are important. Seven in 10 people say tariffs have cost them money. Food is up two point nine percent since January. Household debt up four percent. Utilities up six percent. Obamacare subsidies cut 22 million people. The Democrats are not going to win this election. The Republicans are going to lose it. There’s a difference between not winning and losing. SMITH: OK, the Democrats can’t not win this? The Democrats? MAHER: Not the midterms. SMITH: They’ve invented ways. MAHER: Not the midterms. OK. Not the midterms. Not the midterms. They’re just going to say, let Trump win this one for us. And that’s going to happen. But it’s kind of like I saw this game. You probably watch it because you see every game. I think it was the Cavaliers. And they they won like 138 to 132. And the coach after the game was pissed. His team won. But he said, like, if we’re going to give up 132 points, we’re not going anywhere in the playoffs. SMITH: He’s right. MAHER: And that’s what this reminds me of.

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