# Bill Maher Rubs Salt in Trump’s Midterms Wound: ‘Donnie, Are You OK?’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/bill-maher-rubs-salt-in-trumps-midterms-wound-donnie-are-you-ok/
- Published: 2026-11-07T05:12:10+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/bill-maher-trump-midterms-loss-real-time-hbo-lindsey-graham-1236941912/
- Topics: Elections, Politics

## Key points

- Democrats won control of Congress in a decisive midterm result.
- Maher celebrated and revisited his prediction of a major Republican defeat.
- He questioned Trump’s subdued response to the result.

## Summary

After Democrats won control of Congress in a decisive midterm result, Bill Maher used his HBO programme “Real Time” to celebrate their victory and mock Donald Trump’s subdued response. The episode followed Maher’s recent interactions with Trump, including a White House dinner and a public disagreement, and marked a sharp change in tone from his earlier coverage of the election.

Maher recalled predicting a major Republican defeat and joked that he would miss out on a promised $5,000 cheque. He also invoked a 2016 warning by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who died in July, and made a joke about gay people being ahead of the curve. Maher then addressed Trump directly, asking if he was all right after Trump congratulated Democrats rather than claiming the result was rigged.

## Coverage

- [Variety: Bill Maher Rubs Salt in Trump’s Midterms Wound: ‘Donnie, Are You OK?’](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/bill-maher-trump-midterms-loss-real-time-hbo-lindsey-graham-1236941912/)
- [The Hollywood Reporter: After 2026 Midterms, Bill Maher Asks Trump, “Donnie, Are You OK?”](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/bill-maher-trump-2026-midterms-1236749942/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.