Bill Maher to receive Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain prize after White House denial

Comedian who called Trump ‘gracious and measured’ will win humor award the White House dubbed ‘FAKE NEWS’

Bill Maher will win the prestigious Mark Twain prize for American humor, the Kennedy Center said Thursday, less than a week after the White House forcefully denied that the comedian, who has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Donald Trump, would win it.

“For nearly three decades, the Mark Twain prize has celebrated some of the greatest minds in comedy,” Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice-president of public relations, said in a statement. “For even longer, Bill has been influencing American discourse — one politically incorrect joke at a time.”