Washington — Tv host, comic and satirist Invoice Maher will obtain the twenty seventh Mark Tain Prize for American Humor this yr, the Kennedy Heart introduced Thursday, days after the White Home referred to as reviews that Maher would obtain the prize “faux information.”
The Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts, whose board is full of the president’s allies, mentioned Maher will obtain the prize on June 28, shortly earlier than the venue shuts down for roughly two years for renovations. Maher, who has been important of President Trump but additionally had a non-public dinner on the White Home in March 2025, mentioned it’s “humbling to get something named for a person who’s been thrown out of as many college libraries as Mark Twain.” Mr. Trump has been important of Maher as nicely, and posted on social media final month that “it was a complete waste of time for me to have this jerk on the White Home.”
“For practically three a long time, the Mark Twain Prize has celebrated a few of the biggest minds in comedy,” mentioned Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Heart’s vice chairman of public relations. “For even longer, Invoice has been influencing American discourse — one politically incorrect joke at a time.”
When the Atlantic first reported Maher would obtain the prize, White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt advised a number of information shops, “That is faux information. Invoice Maher will NOT be getting this award.” And White Home communications director posted on X March 20 that the story was “actually FAKE NEWS.”
The Mark Twain prize is supposed for peopled who’ve had an impression on America in methods like Samuel Clements, a.okay.a., Mark Twain, the Kennedy Heart says. The prize was first granted in 1998.
