Business mogul Donald Trump has taken seriously a quip made by comedian Bill Maher last month on NBC News and filed a lawsuit for $5 million.
In an NBC “Tonight Show” appearance in January, Mr. Maher said he would give $5 million to a charity of Mr. Trump’s choice if the businessman released a birth certificate proving he wasn’t the “spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan,” Politico recounted, explaining that the statements was a thinly veiled mocking of the Obama birth certificate controversy.
Mr. Trump subsequently released a copy of his birth document, proving he wasn’t spawned by an orangutan, but rather by his father, Fred Trump.
“He promised me $5 million for charity if I provided certain information,” Mr. Trump said on Monday’s Fox and Friends morning show. “Well, I provided that information. He didn’t pay. So today I sue Bill Maher for $5 million for charity.”
Mr. Trump, in the Politico report, said he did not think Mr. Maher had been joking.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.