Patton Oswalt on kowtowing to Trump: "Has there been any benefit? Does Trump have anyone's back when the chips are down? He has no one's back. No one."
Bill Maher drove to the White House for dinner. Came back calling Trump "gracious" and "measured." Trump waited until Maher left the building, then went on Truth Social and called him a "highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT" with a "severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome." Then signed a list of every insult he'd ever called Maher. In the Oval Office.
Larry David responded with a parody essay about having dinner with Hitler.
Oswalt's read on why the dinner failed is the sharpest thing in the piece. Trump was raised, he said, like an abused shelter animal - kindness without a transaction attached to it registers as a threat. By the time Maher's car was out of the gate, Trump's brain had already decided the whole thing was a setup.
The Colbert after-party was the counterweight. Worst professional day of his career. Dancing with his wife. Lin-Manuel Miranda in the room. Sacha Baron Cohen. Terry Gross. Bette Midler. Someone there said it out loud: Colbert is happier on this day than Trump will ever be on the best day of his life.
That's the whole argument in one sentence.
Patton Oswalt has one piece of advice for hosts caught up in President Donald Trump’s ongoing battle against late-night TV: Never give in.
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