To preface, I haven’t heard a word he’s said in more than 10 years so he may be completely different now for all I know, but I do think people like him serve an important role in the political evolution of those crossing over from conservative to progressive. People don’t generally make that kind of ideological jump overnight. Maher is (or was) a kind of mid-point on that journey. A place for people to get comfortable with rejecting the ideas they grew up with before they fully develop their own thoughts.

Trump certainly seems to.