Bill Maher Mocks Donald Trump's 'Empty Seats' as Dallas Speech Ratings Fall Below Hannity and Gutfeld

TV host and comedian Bill Maher has turned one of Donald Trump's favourite insults back on the US president, mocking the visible 'empty seats' at his Dallas convention after Trump's primetime speech reportedly drew fewer Fox News viewers than the network's regular Hannity and Gutfeld! programmes.

The Real Time with Bill Maher host used his Friday monologue to target Trump's claims about the size of the crowd at the Republican midterm convention, as well as the television audience for his lengthy address.

Host Mocks Trump Over Dallas 'Empty Seats'

'Of course, Trump had to claim that the convention hall was packed, even though, you know, if you ignore the empty seats, yes, it did look packed,' Maher said.

Photographs and reports from the Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center showed large numbers of empty seats, particularly in the upper sections of the arena. Trump nevertheless described the venue as 'packed' and claimed there were also people outside who could not get in.

Maher then turned his attention to the president's television audience.

'Trump's convention on Fox News got less than [Sean] Hannity and [Greg] Gutfeld get on a regular night, and I'm the low-ratings dummy?' he said.

Trump has previously attacked Maher over his television performance, describing the comedian as 'ratings-challenged.'

Speech Drew Around 2.5 Million Fox News Viewers

Trump's opening-night keynote address reportedly attracted an average of around 2.5 million viewers on Fox News between 9:00pm and 11:00pm ET, according to Nielsen ratings cited by multiple reports.

The figure was comparable to, but below, recent typical audiences for some of Fox News' biggest personalities. Fox said Gutfeld! averaged 2.51 million viewers in August, while Hannity averaged 2.338 million during the month.

Fox News was also the only major cable news network to carry Trump's speech in its entirety, limiting direct comparisons with a conventional presidential address broadcast across multiple networks.

Trump Speech Clashed With NFL Season Opener

Maher also questioned the timing of Trump's appearance, which ran for approximately 105 minutes and competed for viewers with the NFL season opener.

'You went against football? You went against the opening two nights of football? The one thing that people still watch on television?' Maher said.

Trump later claimed on Truth Social that the 'overall numbers' for his convention speech had beaten the NFL.

At the time of his claim, however, official viewing figures for the NFL game had not been released. The previous year's NFL season opener attracted 28.3 million viewers, far exceeding the audience recorded by Trump's speech on Fox News alone.

Maher Targets Trump's Unusual Convention 'Pledge'

Maher also mocked a moment in which Trump asked convention attendees to raise their hands and repeat a modified pledge encouraging them to turn out for Republicans in the midterm elections.

Trump jokingly told supporters during the pledge that he did not care whether they were registered and said they should 'try and cheat like hell, like they do.'

Maher highlighted the unusual moment during his monologue, which was titled 'Low-Ratings Dummy.'

Trump and Bill Maher's Long-Running Ratings Feud

The exchange adds another chapter to the public feud between Trump and Maher.

Trump previously attacked the HBO host on Truth Social, claiming Maher's television ratings were so low that few people would hear his criticism.

He also branded Maher a 'highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT,' while comparing him with other late-night hosts he has frequently targeted, including Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert.

Maher's latest response seized directly on that criticism, using the Dallas convention's reported Fox News audience to turn Trump's own ratings attack against him.