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Bill Maher attributes crime decline partly to Trump's tough-on-crime policies

Bill Maher attributed the decline in violent crime in the U.S. to President Trump's tough-on-crime policies during a segment on his show. He noted that violent crime fell nearly 10% from June 2025 to May 2026, and discussed the roles of both Democratic and Republican policies in contributing to this trend.

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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Comedian and political commentator <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/bill-maher/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bill Maher</a> partially credited President <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/donald-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> for the nationwide drop in violent <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/crime/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">crime</a> on Friday night.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/26/us-news/how-f-around-and-find-out-trump-dropped-crime-maher/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Maher said</a> it is "childish to pretend" the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/trump-administration/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trump administration’s</a> tough-on-crime approach has not deterred criminal behavior during a segment about bipartisanship on <em>Real Time with Bill Maher.</em> Violent crime fell nationwide by nearly 10 percentage points from June 2025 through May 2026, following a <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/26/us-news/how-f-around-and-find-out-trump-dropped-crime-maher/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sustained, post-pandemic decline</a> that began in 2022, according to the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Good news stories get buried,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/0VAEW2c1iek?xstg=CAMSEBUJ_b-oH-PhF0yjBgavkzY%3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Maher said</a> about the trend, “because they’re tainted by cooperation.” He specifically discussed the recent <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/exploring-the-sources-of-the-decline-in-us-drug-overdoses/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">decline in</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/drugs/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">drug</a> overdoses and spoke of how “accidental bipartisanship” led to both of the decreases.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Part of it is reasons beyond politics… but mostly it’s because Democrats did some things, and Republicans did other things. And by not actually ever working together, they stumbled upon positive change… or as Trump put it, ‘it was all me.’”</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Maher credited former President <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/joe-biden/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joe Biden</a> for making Narcan, a medication used in opioid overdose emergencies, “more available” while also crediting the Trump administration for its policies related to preventing illegal substances from entering the United States.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We found something better, Narcan, and Democrats fast-tracked it, that’s contributed a lot to the huge decrease in drug deaths,” he said. “But so did closing the border. And deporting gang bangers. And disrupting supply. Narcan worked, and law enforcement worked.”</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“And it’s not just drug crime that’s way down; it’s all crime that’s down. And again, probably much of it is not political — it’s because you can’t move two inches in America without being tracked, photographed, and followed by a Flock camera,” Maher continued. “But it’s also because when Democrats expand the safety net, there are less desperate people — and because Trump is a bad***. No, I don’t agree with many of his methods, like how they sometimes just deport people to countries where they have absolutely no connection.”</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Is doing it this way the right thing? No,” he said. “But it’s just childish to pretend when you elect a f***-around-and-find-out president, a no-more-Mr. Nice Guy, booting-your-ass, V-for-Vendetta, kick-a**-and-take-names, say-hello-to-my-little-friend president, that’s not going to have any effect on crime.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“He has UFC fights on the [White House] lawn,” he said, referencing the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4611454/violent-delights-ufc-freedom-250/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UFC Freedom 250</a> event that took place in June as part of the administration’s Fourth of July celebrations. “I think the bad guys got the message.”</p>

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Original vs. Neutral

Original Headline

Bill Maher says Trump’s ‘no more Mr. Nice Guy’ approach partially drove steep crime decline

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Bill Maher attributes crime decline partly to Trump's tough-on-crime policies