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Comedian Bill Maher called for an end to the State of the Union address during "Real Time" on Friday, ahead of President Donald Trump's speech this week.
"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.
Trump is set to address Congress on Tuesday for his 2026 State of the Union speech.
"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 continued.
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Bill Maher attends the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 2, 2025, in Beverly Hills, California. (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
The comedian said it wasn’t part of the "operating manual" of the Constitution. He then read Article One, Section One of the document.
"Nearly half the words in our Constitution are in Article One. 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," he said.
"The star of this movie we call American Democracy is Congress. The president is at most up for best supporting actor," he said.
Maher argued that the speech was everything George Washington didn't want.
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Bill Maher at the 83rd Annual Golden Globes held at The Beverly Hilton on January 11, 2026, in Beverly Hills, California. (MEGA/GC Images)
"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 addressed Trump's attack against him during "Real Time" on Friday as well.
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.
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President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago club, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Maher addressed these insults from the president directly, saying, "[Trump] went off on me and said, you know, the dinner we had was a waste of time. Well, I didn’t think it was. And then I’m a jerk, and I’m at low ratings, lightweight, and all this s---. Because I never stopped criticizing him. I never said I would."
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."
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
