Bill Maher has turned on the musicians who pulled out of a concert series celebrating America’s 250th birthday, accusing them of handing Donald Trump a political gift and making Democrats look like they “don’t really love America” — even as the artists insist they were deceived about the event’s partisan nature.
The HBO host delivered his verdict on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday night, following the withdrawal of Poison, Morris Day, Young MC, the Commodores and Martina McBride from the Freedom 250 concert series, which was intended to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary across multiple states throughout the summer.
“This is a question about what looks best for the Democrats, because I don’t think that looks good,” Maher said. “It looks like you are just what people say about you — you don’t really love America. It looks like you think Trump is more important than the country itself.” He went further, arguing the walkouts had simply handed Trump exactly what he wanted. “Now it’s just a big MAGA rally, this whole thing. Now it’s just Trump and Lee Greenwood. Wouldn’t it have been better to play this gig? It’s a month-long gig, lots of people, just celebrating America. Can’t we all just celebrate America itself and leave Trump out of it?”
His guest, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, pushed back, arguing it was Trump who had made the event political in the first place. “There was a nonpartisan, apolitical effort to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. And instead of just letting that effort go forward, Donald Trump took it over to create a parallel set of events,” Murphy said. “My understanding is these artists thought they were going to the nonpartisan effort. And then when they found out it was just a predicate to a Trump rally, they didn’t want to be part of it.”
The artists themselves have been consistent in their accounts. Country singer Martina McBride wrote on Instagram that she had been “presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading,” adding that she had “asked lots of questions and was assured this was a nonpartisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states.” She said she had seen it as “just a bigger version of so many state fairs” before things “started changing” and what she had been told turned out not to be accurate.
Rapper Young MC, whose real name is Marvin Young, described the situation to Vibe as a “bait-and-switch.” “I had no clue it was considered a ‘Trump-backed’ event, so that was new to me,” he said. “I was told one thing, and then it was a bait-and-switch. All the comments I’ve seen from the artists that have dropped out thought it was supposed to be a regular show in DC.”
Trump initially announced he was cancelling the concert before reversing course in a lengthy post on Truth Social, confirming the event would go ahead on 24 June in Washington DC — rebranded as what he called a “Rally to end all Rallies.” He dismissed the departing artists entirely. “We don’t want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep, we’ve told them all to stay home. All we want is you, me, a few speakers, and the Greatest Music ever played.” Country singer Lee Greenwood will introduce the president at the event, alongside MAGA opera singer Christopher Macchio. Trump also used the announcement to compare himself to Elvis, claiming he attracts “much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime” with nothing more than a microphone and a good speech.
