Comedian Bill Maher admitted on his show that he had been incorrect in his assertion that most candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump had lost their races.
During a segment on his program, Maher stated that he had received information directly from Trump, who corrected his earlier claim. Maher had previously stated that "Trump used to win all of his endorsements, now he's winning almost none of them." He later acknowledged, "I did overstate it. What I said last week wasn't true."
Maher explained that Trump had provided him with data indicating that he has endorsed 260 candidates this election cycle, with only nine losing their primaries, resulting in a 97 percent success rate. "So he still has very powerful endorsements," Maher conceded. He noted that Trump's recent successes, such as backing Darline Graham in a South Carolina Republican Senate runoff and Mike Mazzei in Oklahoma's Republican nomination for state senate, demonstrate his continued influence.
However, Maher also suggested that the situation is nuanced. He pointed out that Republican primary voters have rejected 10 Trump-backed candidates for statewide office this season, which he noted is equal to the number who lost in the 2018, 2020, and 2024 primaries combined, citing data from CNN. Maher mentioned Trump's defense that he sometimes backs candidates who are unlikely to win out of loyalty, a point Maher did not dispute entirely.
Maher's on-air correction occurred during a discussion with Congressman Byron Donalds, who had secured a victory in Florida's Republican primary for governor with Trump's backing. Donalds had been a target of criticism from his opponent, James Fishback, during the campaign. Mazzei's victory in Oklahoma was by a narrow margin, with Trump having actively campaigned for him in the weeks leading up to the runoff. Maher concluded by acknowledging that while the overall picture is complex, his initial statement about Trump's endorsement success was an overstatement, and he humorously told the president to stop texting him.