Dana White and Andrew Schulz commend Bill Maher for Trump White House visit, being honest

UFC President Dana White appeared on comedian Andrew Schulz’s “Flagrant” podcast on Tuesday, where the two commended late-night host Bill Maher for visiting President Donald Trump at the White House in March.

Maher, a longtime critic of Trump, revealed the details of his visit on “Real Time” shortly after meeting with the president, saying he was more gracious and good-humored than he expected. 

Speaking about Maher’s trip to the White House, Schulz told the UFC president: “I commend Bill for going, by the way.”

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White, who was present during Maher’s visit, agreed and offered additional insight into how the evening unfolded between the two men.

“[Maher] goes in, we sit down for dinner, and they’re going back and forth on policies and what they agree with, what they don’t agree with. We go through the whole dinner and then after dinner, Trump gives Bill Maher a full tour of the White House. Like an incredible tour,” White explained.

“Now, think about how long this guy’s been supporting Democrats, whatever. Nobody’s ever invited him out and toured the White House. President Trump did,” he added.

Aside from applauding Maher for meeting with someone he’s publicly criticized for years, White also gave the late-night host credit for being truthful about his interaction with the president.

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“And again, to Bill’s credit, he went on his air and said, ‘Well, I can tell you this. The guy I’ve hated for 30 years was not present at this dinner.’ And you know, he told the truth,” White said.

Schulz noted that meeting someone in-person gives you a “three-dimensional view” of who somebody actually is “as a human being,” and it can be “scary when you see someone you don’t like look friendly and nice, and is an actual human being.”

“It’s like, ‘Whoa, I was supposed to hate this person,’ and then it turns out that they’re actually like a good dad. I don’t want to hate someone who’s kind of a good dad. You know what I mean?” Schulz asked. “I think that’s that visceral reaction where you start going like, ‘I need to hold onto my view of this person I hate, and I will fight tooth and nail to do it.’”

About a week after his White House visit, Maher reflected on his meeting with Trump, surprising those who assumed he’d have nothing positive to say about the president.

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“You can hate me for it, but I’m not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured,” Maher said. “And why isn’t he that in other settings – I don’t know, and I can’t answer, and it’s not my place to answer. I’m just telling you what I saw, and I wasn’t high.”

Maher mocked those who treated the White House visit like it was “some kind of summit” brokered by their mutual friend Kid Rock, calling them “ridiculous.”

“I have no power. I’m a f—— comedian, and he’s the most powerful leader in the world!” Maher exclaimed. “I’m not the leader of anything, except maybe a contingent of centrist-minded people who think there’s got to be a better way of running this country than hating each other every minute.”

Maher shared a printout of the insults Trump had leveled at him over the years, which Trump signed with “good humor.”

During his appearance on the “Flagrant” podcast on Tuesday, White shared additional details about Maher asking Trump to sign the list of insults. The UFC president revealed that prior to asking Trump to sign the printout, the president offered Maher a Coca-Cola, but the comedian joked he needed “something harder than a Coke” to calm his nerves.

“So [Maher] starts drinking, and he brings in this list of all the things the president has called him over the last 30 years, and I said, ‘This is awesome,’” White recalled. “I literally had them both sign it. I have it and they both signed it, and it hangs in the front when you come up the elevators in the UFC to the executive offices, it hangs on the wall.”

Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.