Classical liberal Bill Maher is never going to be mistaken for a conservative by anyone within that ideological circle.
That is doubly true for far-left Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee John Mellencamp.
Yet, when the two met on Monday for Maher’s “Club Random” podcast, there was, perhaps surprisingly, a good amount of pro-Donald Trump rhetoric — despite Mellencamp seemingly being averse to that topic.
While Maher and Mellencamp covered a wide range of topics, including the Democratic Party’s over-reliance on celebrity endorsements, it wasn’t until toward the end of the episode that Maher proffered some praise for Trump.
“You know, when we started Farm Aid, Willie [Nelson] and Neil [Young] and I, I think all of us were naive enough to think that if we do this show that the politicians will go, ‘These guys have a good point. We need to help the small family farmer.’
“No, it’s going to take more than a f***ing concert. It’s going to take more than a march to get rid of –”
At this point, Maher interjected: “– Trump’s wrote a lot of checks to farmers.”
“Huh?” Mellencamp responded.
At this point, Maher reiterated his point, while snidely adding that Trump had to cut checks because of the tariffs hamstringing farmers.
Mellencamp, perhaps not too knowledgeable on the topic, then switched topics back to how he had written a song to uplift young farmers.
To their credit, the two did eventually circle back to the topic of the president.
Mellencamp brought up how he had first met Trump at a Super Bowl event many years ago.
While the rock legend didn’t recognize the younger future president, the two struck up a conversation.
“But he bought me popcorn,” Mellencamp recalled. “He bought me Coke. He couldn’t have been nicer.”
Hellbound and Down 