Longest post among roughly 97,000 since 2011

Comedian who dined at White House days earlier draws tirade

'A complete and total loser,' Trump writes

CNN: longest-ever post targets comedian, not midterms or Middle East

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he leaves the White House in Washington, D.C., bound for Kansas on Oct. 19 (local time). [Reuters]
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he leaves the White House in Washington, D.C., bound for Kansas on Oct. 19 (local time). [Reuters]

President Donald Trump unleashed a 1,323-word tirade on social media against a prominent comedian who had criticized him — the longest post among the roughly 97,000 he has made on social media since 2011. The record-breaking screed, devoted not to major policy issues such as the midterm elections or the Middle East conflict but to a personal feud with a talk show host, has drawn attention from American media.

According to CNN, Trump posted the 1,323-word message on his Truth Social account Monday night. Data analytics firm Factbase, which has tracked 97,455 of Trump's social media posts since 2011, confirmed it as the longest on record.

The previous record was a 723-word post written in May, in which Trump attacked a federal court for blocking renovations at the Kennedy Center and vented broader frustrations with the judiciary, including the Supreme Court's tariff ruling and birthright citizenship.

This time, the target was not a policy matter but a comedian who had criticized him.

Trump called Bill Maher, host of HBO's political talk show "Real Time," "a complete and total loser," and added that Maher was hosting "a low-rated show on a low-rated network."

He said Maher "lies about everything," claiming that segments on his approval rating and alleged illegal voting in California were factually wrong.

"Don't call anymore," Trump wrote, adding that he had not watched Maher's show much and would never watch it again. He dismissed the program as "nothing more than Fake News that America, and the World, unfortunately, has to put up with."

The lengthy post appears to be a reaction to Maher criticizing Trump on air just days after the two had dined together at the White House.

Trump hosted Maher for dinner at the White House on Oct. 15. At the time, Trump described it as "a great dinner" and spoke warmly of the meeting.

His tone shifted sharply after Maher criticized him on his Friday broadcast, citing Trump's low approval ratings, among other things.

In the post, Trump said Maher had repeatedly sought meetings through mutual acquaintances, claiming to admire him. Trump also said of the White House dinner: "I learned nothing and felt it was a complete waste of time."

"Real Time with Bill Maher" is a political comedy talk show on HBO that tackles current affairs through satire and humor, featuring interviews and debates with political and cultural figures. Maher has long been a vocal critic of Trump.

CNN noted that the target of Trump's longest-ever post was not the midterm elections or the Middle East conflict, but a comedian.

"The subject of the president's essay was not the midterms, not the Middle East, but his complicated relationship with comedian Bill Maher," CNN said, adding that the post was "so long that even the reporters assigned to cover it struggled to screenshot and summarize it."

CNN also noted that Trump appeared to have misquoted its own polling data when discussing his approval rating in the post.

"Maher said I was losing Republican support, but in a CNN poll I have 98-99% support among Republicans — an all-time high," Trump wrote.

CNN rebuffed that claim, saying its own poll last week showed Trump's approval rating among Republicans had fallen to 74 percent, a record low.

CNN said the 98-99 percent figure Trump cited appeared to refer not to Republicans overall but to self-identified MAGA — Make America Great Again — Republicans, a subset of the party's most committed supporters.

Trump's every word moves global markets and economies. Get the essential Trump news of the day, curated and delivered in under a minute — from Wall Street's closing bell to the stories shaping global asset markets.


sjy@heraldcorp.com