According to USA Today’s Kimi Robinson, the April 11 episode of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” began with a “highly anticipated report” from Maher on his White House dinner with President Donald Trump.

I’m not sure how many people actually cared about Maher’s report, but what the comedian said was not surprising, considering the circumstances of the event in question.

Maher seemed surprised that Trump was gracious and non-confrontational, and even laughed occasionally. Anyone who watches the news or YouTube videos has seen Trump laugh many times, so I’m not sure why this impressed Maher, who was given two-and-a-half hours of the president’s time.

It reminded me of how I spent almost thirty years at the Akron Beacon Journal and the Providence Journal interviewing celebrities, mostly television performers. Most of these interviews lasted a half-hour or less, but there were several times I spent two-and-a-half hours with an interview subject. Gypsy Rose Lee, for example, and Andy Griffith.

They were gracious throughout, though Griffith displayed a bit of the temper I had heard about. It happened while we watched a 1967 special, “The Andy Griffith Uptown-Downtown Show,” and he became unhappy because he thought it was obvious guest Tennessee Ernie Ford was reading cue cards during a sketch.

How upset Griffith really was, I don’t know, because he was aware I was there to write a story. Likewise, Donald Trump knew Maher would report to his audience what he had observed during their time together. There was no reason for me to conclude that I had witnessed the real Andy Griffith, and certainly Bill Maher has no reason to believe he was in the presence of the real Donald Trump.

Yet Maher did reach a conclusion, saying, “A crazy person doesn't live in the White House. A person who plays a crazy person on TV a lot lives there.”

Really? We’ve seen Trump acting crazy many, many times since 2015, and it’s quite possible he’s a crazy person who played a gracious host in a 150-minute performance before a small audience that included one of his harshest critics.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain spent much more time than that with Adolf Hitler in 1938 and came away believing Hitler could be trusted. We know how that worked out.

His sincerity aside, Bill Maher should know actions speak louder than words. One dinner with the president didn’t prove anything, but I’m glad Maher had a pleasant time.