{"id":2573189,"date":"2026-02-24T20:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bill-maher-tells-john-mellencamp-trump-helped-farmers-far-left-rocker-immediately-changes-the-subject\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:33:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:33:52","slug":"bill-maher-tells-john-mellencamp-trump-helped-farmers-far-left-rocker-immediately-changes-the-subject","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bill-maher-tells-john-mellencamp-trump-helped-farmers-far-left-rocker-immediately-changes-the-subject\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Maher Tells John Mellencamp Trump Helped Farmers \u2013 Far-Left Rocker Immediately Changes the Subject"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbill-maher-tells-john-mellencamp-trump-helped-farmers-far-left-rocker-immediately-changes-the-subject%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2573189&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>On Bill Maher&#8217;s Club Random, liberal host Bill Maher and rock icon John mellencamp\u2014far apart politically\u2014sit down to discuss politics, Farm Aid, and the role of celebrities in public life. They cover a range of topics, including the Democratic Party\u2019s reliance on celebrity endorsements, with Maher ironically offering praise for Donald Trump by pointing to how farm subsidies and tariffs affect farmers. Mellencamp shares anecdotal memories of meeting Trump at a Super Bowl event long ago,noting that Trump was courteous and friendly. The conversation circles back to Farm Aid\u2019s origins and the idea that politicians might not respond as hoped, while also critiquing the idea that celebrities always help political causes. The pair also debate whether Democrats should distance themselves from celebrity endorsements, touching on Maher\u2019s experience with anti-immigration pins at the Golden Globes and Mellencamp\u2019s populist view that manny people outside their political bubble don\u2019t pay attention to such symbols. The episode includes a YouTube video link and a content warning for language, illustrating a candid, nuanced exchange about how fame intersects with politics.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Classical liberal Bill Maher is never going to be mistaken for a conservative by anyone within that ideological circle.<\/p>\n<p>That is doubly true for far-left Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame inductee John Mellencamp.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, when the two met on Monday for Maher&rsquo;s &ldquo;Club Random&rdquo; podcast, there was, perhaps surprisingly, a good amount of pro-Donald Trump rhetoric &mdash; despite Mellencamp seemingly being averse to that topic.<\/p>\n<p>While Maher and Mellencamp covered a wide range of topics, including the Democratic Party&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/bill-maher-issues-sobering-warning-democrats-reliance-celebs-dont-know-anything\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over-reliance<\/a> on celebrity endorsements, it wasn&rsquo;t until toward the end of the episode that Maher proffered some praise for Trump.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You know, when we started Farm Aid, Willie [Nelson] and Neil [Young] and I, I think all of us were naive enough to think that if we do this show that the politicians will go, &lsquo;These guys have a good point. We need to help the small family farmer.&rsquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No, it&rsquo;s going to take more than a f***ing concert. It&rsquo;s going to take more than a march to get rid of &ndash;&ldquo;<\/p>\n<p>At this point, Maher interjected: &ldquo;&ndash; Trump&rsquo;s wrote a lot of checks to farmers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Huh?&rdquo; Mellencamp responded.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, Maher reiterated his point, while snidely adding that Trump&nbsp;<em>had&nbsp;<\/em>to cut checks because of the tariffs hamstringing farmers.<\/p>\n<p>Mellencamp, perhaps not too knowledgeable on the topic, then switched topics back to how he had written a song to uplift young farmers.<\/p>\n<p>To their credit, the two did eventually circle back to the topic of the president.<\/p>\n<p>Mellencamp brought up how he had first met Trump at a Super Bowl event many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ca-governor-breaks-his-own-covid-rules-to-eat-fancy-french-food\/\" title=\"Ca. Governor Breaks His Own COVID Rules To Eat Fancy French Food\">years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >rock legend didn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t recognize the younger future president, the two struck up a conversation.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;But he bought me popcorn,&rdquo; Mellencamp recalled. &ldquo;He bought me Coke. He couldn&rsquo;t have been nicer.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>You can watch the whole episode between the two below:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>WARNING: The following video contains language that some viewers will find offensive.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VVo32BRF8TU?si=_LOymTUv9kVIHteK\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>When the two weren&rsquo;t reminiscing about younger Trump, Maher and Mellencamp also spent some time denigrating the current Democratic strategy of being overly reliant on celebrities.<\/p>\n<p>Maher and Mellencamp discussed that issue under the context of Maher&rsquo;s refusal to wear anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement &ldquo;Be Good&rdquo; buttons at the Golden Globes.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It was so funny,&rdquo; Maher said of the backlash he received for laughing at the social justice pins.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It was,&rdquo; Mellencamp said. &ldquo;Because outside of this ball of people that live here, nobody gives a s***.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;But that&rsquo;s what I was saying,&rdquo; Maher added. &ldquo;The Democrats, I mean &mdash; for people who didn&rsquo;t see it &mdash; the point of it was, you&rsquo;ve got to cut your celebrities loose. You think they&rsquo;re helping, and they&rsquo;re actually hurting, because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/strong-turnout-in-frances-high-stakes-elections-as-support-for-the-far-right-grows-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Strong turnout in France\u2019s high-stakes elections as support for the far right grows - Washington Examiner\">people don&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t see celebrities in any way like they can relate to their life, and they can&rsquo;t in any way.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a paraphrase of the core article content:<\/p>\n<p>On the Club Random podcast, liberal commentator Bill Maher and John Mellencamp, a musician known for left-leaning views, surprisingly expressed pro-Trump sentiment at times. They discussed a range of topics, including the Democratic Party\u2019s reliance on celebrity endorsements. Toward the end of the show, Maher offered some praise for Trump and recalled Farm Aid, noting that he and Willie Nelson and Neil Young initially hoped politicians would recognize farmers\u2019 needs. Mellencamp shared a memory of meeting Trump at a Super Bowl event years ago, saying Trump was friendly, even buying him popcorn and a Coke. The conversation also touched on Trump\u2019s agricultural subsidies and tariffs. The pair criticized Democrats for leaning too heavily on celebrities, arguing that such endorsements can feel out of touch to ordinary people. The video carries a warning that it contains language some viewers may find offensive<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[32100,11779,74509,5894,3634],"class_list":["post-2573189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-bill-maher","tag-farmers","tag-john-mellencamp","tag-politics","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2573189"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2573192,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573189\/revisions\/2573192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2573189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2573189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2573189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}