What To Know
- Bill Maher said the canceled Freedom 250 concert makes Democrats appear unpatriotic.
- After several artists pulled out amid backlash, Trump canceled the concert and replaced it with a rally.
- Maher suggested that celebrating America should transcend political divisions.
The President Trump-backed Freedom 250 concert might have fallen apart and led the Republican administration to scramble to fix the event, but according to Bill Maher, somehow it’s the Democrats who look bad.
On Friday’s (June 5) episode of HBO’s Real Time, Maher spoke about how Trump canceled the concert after several performers pulled out. The event was scheduled to be part of the Great American State Fair, which kicks off on June 25, to celebrate 250 years of independence.
“They all pulled out,” Maher said, referring to artists such as Young MC, the Commodores, Morris Day of Morris Day and The Time, Martina McBride, and Bret Michaels, all of whom backed out of the concert amid backlash.
Maher continued, “This is a question about what looks best for the Democrats, because I don’t think that looks good. It looks like you are just what people say about you; you don’t really love America. It looks [like] you think Trump is more important than the country itself.”
Trump officially canceled the Freedom 250 concert on Thursday (June 4) and announced that instead, he would host a rally for those in attendance. “We don’t want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep, we’ve told them all to stay home,” he wrote on Truth Social. “All we want is you, me, a few speakers, and the Greatest Music ever played, the same Music you have listened to for years!”
The president will be joined by country singer Lee Greenwood, who will perform “God Bless the U.S.A,” as well as tenor Christopher Macchio, who will sing “Nessun Dorma,” “Hallelujah,” “Ave Maria,” and “God Bless America.” The US Army Band, Armed Forces Choir, US Marine Band, and Joint Armed Forces Chorus are also scheduled to perform.
“Now it’s just a big MAGA rally, this whole thing,” Maher said on Friday’s show. “Now it’s Trump and Lee Greenwood. Wouldn’t it have been better to play this gig? Can’t we all just celebrate America itself and leave Trump out of it?”
Maher himself previously mocked the Freedom 250 line-up, saying on his show, “We’re having a big 250th birthday party for America, a concert. They announced the lineup. 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.”
Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays at 10/9c, HBO