Comedian Bill Maher used his HBO platform Friday night to demand that the modern State of the Union spectacle be scrapped altogether just days before President Donald Trump is scheduled to address Congress.
According to Fox News, Maher opened his monologue on Real Time by blasting the annual address as a ritual that feeds an unhealthy, almost monarchical view of the presidency. Since the State of the Union address is next Tuesday, let's get rid of the State of the Union address before Tuesday. And here's why. Nothing has misled the American people to the warped belief that the president can act like a king more than this stupid, boring, performative after-dinner speech from hell where the Sergeant-at-Arms announces the president like he's a king," Maher said.
President Trump is set to deliver his 2026 State of the Union speech on Tuesday, an event that will once again showcase the pageantry Maher derided. The comedian mocked the dramatic entrance that has become standard fare for modern presidents, saying, "He walks into the room like Conor McGregor heading into the octagon, with members of Congress lining the aisle like medieval peasants hoping to touch the royal garments, and then he proceeds to tell Congress what he wants them to do, making it look like the president is in charge of everything, and it's he who sets the agenda."
Maher framed his critique as a constitutional argument, insisting the annual address is not part of the nations founding blueprint. He reminded viewers that the Constitutions first article is devoted to the legislative branch, saying, "Nearly half the words in our Constitution are in Article 1. That's the one about Congress and all the stuff they're supposed to be in charge of. The exclusive power to make laws, declare war, tax, tariff. Congress creates the laws. The president is just supposed to execute them."
In Mahers telling, the State of the Union distorts that balance by turning the president into the main attraction and Congress into a supporting cast. "The star of this movie we call American Democracy is Congress. The president is at most up for best supporting actor," he said, arguing that the televised spectacle fuels the very executive overreach conservatives have long warned against.
He went further, invoking the Founders to claim the modern address betrays their intentions and George Washingtons example of restraint. "It's everything George Washington did not want because Washington knew the Constitution. And nowhere does it say the president has to get up before Congress every year and bloviate on and on like he's the slightly drunk best man at the rehearsal dinner," the comedian said.
Maher also used the program to respond to President Trumps recent criticism of him on social media, which followed Mahers mockery of Trumps comments about China, Canada, and hockey. In a lengthy post, the president took aim at Maher over recent comments mocking Trump for suggesting that China would end all hockey in Canada as the two countries deepen their economic ties.
The HBO host read Trumps barbs aloud and portrayed himself as unfazed by the attack, emphasizing that his opposition to the president has been consistent. Maher said, "[Trump] went off on me and said, You know, the dinner we had was a waste of time. Well, I didnt think it was. And then Im a jerk, and Im at low ratings, lightweight, and all this s---. Because I never stopped criticizing him. I never said I would."
He closed the segment with a characteristic jab, likening Trumps expectations after a past dinner to a bad date. The late-night host joked that he now knows "how women feel" when a guy "buys you dinner and then expects you to put out," adding that he's "not that guy," even as the broader debate over presidential power, constitutional limits, and political theater continues to play out ahead of Tuesdays address.
Login