Details About Henry Winkler's Unpleasant Interaction With Donald Trump

Veteran actor and one-time "Happy Days" star Henry Winkler has long been critical of former president and 2024 Republican nominee Donald Trump. However, while many have only watched Trump from afar, Winkler recalls one particular incident where he claims to have gotten up close and personal with the former president. The actor says this unpleasant encounter is emblematic of who Trump is as a person.

Winkler recently made an appearance on Bill Maher's "Club Random" podcast. During their chat, Maher and Winkler talked about forgetting people's names. "You have to forgive people when they do that," Maher said (via Newsweek). "Because we've all done it. We've all had it done to us." Maher's comment on forgiveness prompted Winkler to once again lay into Trump.

"You know what I don't forgive? I don't forgive people who don't see you, who don't acknowledge your existence," Winkler said. "That kills me. Like, people who brush you out of the way." When Maher asked him to give an example, Winkler added, "The first time I met a man who was running for president at the time ... Trump. I met him at a ball, at a big event, and he literally pushed me out of the way." Winkler continued, "That should be shown every day, every hour. Because I think it is the very definition of a soul."

Winkler's public criticism of Trump can be traced back to at least 2017 (the first year of the latter's presidency). "I do believe that he is completely self-possessed or obsessed, and it's very interesting. This is what he does, when the crowd goes wild for him, he moves his ear closer to the sound. You watch it, it happens every time," Winkler told MSNBC (via The Hill). "His life's bread, his life's blood is the sound of appreciation, or adulation."

The previous year, while Trump was still running for office, Winkler portrayed former New York City mayor Ed Koch in a film spoofing Trump's 1987 book "The Art of the Deal." The satirical adaptation is noteworthy for portraying Trump as a megalomaniac, which seems to be more or less in line with Winkler's opinion of him. Later, in 2021, Winkler joined the myriad of Hollywood figures condemning the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In a now-deleted tweet (via TheWrap), Winkler compared Trump to infamous Italian dictator Benito Mussolini — who allied himself with Adolf Hitler during World War II.

More recently, Winkler cheekily responded to a social media post accusing Trump of plagiarizing Elle Woods' (Reese Witherspoon) graduation speech from the 2001 film "Legally Blonde." "We like the same films," Winkler wrote on X, formerly Twitter.