Al Franken Tells Bill Maher Trump Is a 'Terrible President' and Will Continue to Be One

The HBO host began the interview (above) by asking Franken what took Republican senators so long to realize that Trump was a bad president, to which he replied, "What took them so long? I've known for weeks that Trump is a terrible president."

The senator appeared on the late-night political talk show months after cancelling a scheduled appearance after Maher was heavilycriticized for using the n-word on the air.

"There are a number of Republican senators who have been saying from the beginning that they have a lot of doubts about him, but won't go public with that because he still has 80-some percent of his base behind him, and that's their base," Franken said. "So politically, they're unwilling to go public. And there were some people who said, 'There's nothing good about neo-Nazis, etc.,' but wouldn't blame Trump."

Maher then asked Franken if he thought Trump's response to Charlottesville would be a "turning point" for how both Democrats and Republicans view POTUS. "This week was unbelievably horrible," Franken said. "It was a tragic week. But I don't think [Trump] changes."

The host also asked the senator about the biggest news out of the Trump administration this week: the firing of White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

"A lot of people are saying that Bannon's going, and that is going to make a difference. The problem with this administration is Trump, and it's going to continue," Franken said. "We've heard this. 'When [chief of staff] Kelly comes in, everything will be fine,' and then boom, [Trump] threatens nuclear war... don't think [Trump] changes."