John Kerry on Bill Maher: Trump is immature and ignorant, focused on Twitter "likes"

Trump has "maturity of eight-year old boy with the insecurity of a teenage girl," says former secretary of state

By Nicole Karlis

Senior Writer

Published September 15, 2018 12:01PM (EDT)

 (Youtube/Real Time with Bill Maher)
(Youtube/Real Time with Bill Maher)

Former Secretary of State John Kerry took the hot seat with host Bill Maher for the latest edition of "Real Time" on Friday night. Kerry did not hesitate to address President Donald Trump's hostile tweet on Thursday evening.

“What did you do, John Kerry, that was bad?” Maher asked.

“I think I told the truth,” Kerry responded, as the audience applauded. “He’s the first president that I know of who spends more time reading his Twitter ‘likes’ than his briefing books and the Constitution of the United States.”

Kerry defended his meeting with the Iranian president by comparing his actions to those of Henry Kissinger.

"Henry Kissinger, for 40 years, has been traveling to Russia, traveling to China, talks with the leaders. There’s absolutely nothing unusual about it,” Kerry said.

“The conversation he ought to be worrying about is Paul Manafort with Mueller,” said the longtime Massachusetts senator and 2004 presidential nominee. “It really is giant, and soon you will be hearing him say that’s the worst deal that’s ever been made. When you stop and think about it, it’s gone from the ‘art of the deal’ to the ‘art of the squeal.’ I’ve honestly never seen anything quite like it. The anonymous op-ed, the Woodward book, the chronology of everything that’s been happening. It’s tough, you know. … Unfortunately, we have a president, literally, for whom the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth are three different things, and you don’t even know what they are.”

READ MORE: Exclusive: Psychiatrist Bandy Lee says White House officials told her Trump was "unraveling"

Kerry added that democracy is “based on truth."

“I don’t want to get into a real riff on this, but I’ve got to tell ya … he really is the rare combination of an eight-year-old boy- he’s got the maturity of an eight-year-old boy with the insecurity of a teenage girl,” Kerry concluded.


By Nicole Karlis

Nicole Karlis is a senior writer at Salon, specializing in health and science. Tweet her @nicolekarlis.

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