On the latest episode of Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast, KISS bassist Gene Simmons spoke about former U.S. president Donald Trump, on whose “The Celebrity Apprentice” show he was once a contestant.
“For the record, when [Trump] first ran in 2016 and got elected, I was happy,” Gene said. “I knew the guy from before then, seeing him in clubs and stuff like that. And for the record, he had Bill and Hillary [Clinton] at his wedding and Howard Stern went to his wedding. He’s not a politician. But my point, I wanna say for the record, and people will tell you who know me, ‘Oh, yeah, Gene was happy that Trump won.’ I was. I didn’t want Hillary [to be president]. I thought, ‘Oh, a businessman is coming in. He understands how to run things.'”
After Maher pointed out that Trump doesn’t understand how government works and doesn’t care to learn, Gene added: “I agree. The person that I saw first coming into power is not the person I saw within a year or two of that… But I changed, the way lots of people changed.”
Stating his opinion on Joe Biden, Gene said: “I thought Biden was gonna come in and be a major force. I’ve got some big reservations about the man — not about his ethics and morality, but just about his physical ability to do all that.”
After Bill was shocked by Gene‘s “ageism,” which is when people are judged or unfairly treated because of their age, Simmons retaliated with: “I am an ageist. I am an ageist, depending on the vibrancy and the mental alertness of what you’ve got. There’s a certain age you can’t look at a person and not say, ‘Okay, you’re X number of years old. Now, how sharp are you?’ You’re talking about the most powerful person on the planet… I’m not talking about policy. Communication skills are flat. There is such a thing as the cult of personality. And I like the man, but the ability to communicate a message is nil.”
Maher countered Simmons‘ claim by saying that Simmons is implying that words are more important than deeds. Gene replied to this counterargument by stating: “Initially, yes. Because the first impression you have of a female walking up to you before you talk with her is the impression. And then you find out where and who and what she [is like]. As a male, you understand that. And the first impression I have of somebody coming on screen is the Nixon–Kennedy debate. [People] weren’t listening to what the debate was all about. Nobody understands political platforms. All they saw was the five o’clock shadow of Nixon and the little beads of sweat. That’s all they remember. And Kennedy was a good-looking guy who was able to put a sentence together. Do people remember what the political differences were? Not in the least.”
