Comedian Patton Oswalt weighed in on President Donald Trump’s appeal to voters during a recent conversation with Bill Maher, arguing that Trump taps into insecurity and resentment that many Americans feel.
Speaking on Maher’s “Club Random” podcast Monday, Maher suggested that Trump, despite his age, stays connected to a younger, more rebellious energy in the country. He added that younger generations, in his view, are less anchored to rules and norms, which he attributed to a broader decline in education.
Oswalt agreed that Trump channels a particular stage of life, but framed it as something darker. He said Trump is “really in tune” with the period when people are young, intimidated by the world, and leaning on bravado and provocation before they know who they are.
Oswalt compared that attitude to his own experiences in his 20s, when he’d dismiss things as “bulls—” because it felt safer than admitting he liked something that might later seem uncool. Trump, he argued, lives in that posture constantly.
From there, Oswalt expanded the point to older supporters. He said Trump appeals to middle-aged Americans who feel powerless at work and in daily life — people who watch authority figures bend rules with impunity and fantasize about having the same freedom. In his view, Trump embodies that fantasy: someone who can contradict himself without consequence and still be cheered for it.
Oswalt said that kind of performative power “appeals to very damaged people,” and claimed there are many Americans who feel harmed or failed by the system.
He also described Trump as a “giant, colicky baby,” suggesting the president’s behavior is less strategic than impulsive.
Maher added that Trump was smart to surround himself with younger figures in his orbit, even if Maher said he doesn’t necessarily agree with them. He pointed to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s viral “Your mom did” response to a reporter as an example of the administration’s combative style. Maher and Oswalt laughed about it, though Oswalt said the moment was both funny and unsettling.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
