HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” anchor Bill Maher recently supported Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis against criticism from the media and a Democrat lawmaker.
While GOP candidates in other states struggled, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis became a prominent story in last week’s midterm elections after winning in a landslide and helping raise down-ballot Republicans in the state. According to a survey taken after the election, Republicans are more likely to choose DeSantis as their party’s nominee in 2024 than they are to choose former President Donald Trump.
During a panel discussion with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and CBS News correspondent Robert Costa, Maher remarked, “The reason why I believe DeSantis is so powerful is that he can do both things.” He’s capable of “performance art” that “looks to have you so exercised to the base,” but “most of which I don’t really know whether it’s that destructive.”
He goes on to say, “He starts a battle with Disney,” continuing Maher’s earlier point. How many people does it actually affect? The legislation isn’t called “Don’t Say, Gay,” but that’s what I read. It was dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” statute. A more appropriate name for this legislation would have been “let’s do things in schools the way we did five years ago.” Really, that’s not out of the question.
It was at that point that the audience began to applaud enthusiastically.
What I’m trying to convey is that he’s capable of both, and he also understands how to get his supporters excited. To that, I also give my assent. Even if he’s a politician, “he can be a regular governor,” as Maher put it. So, after the hurricane, he can work with President Biden as any good governor would and then send some migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. Having both of those factors together is really potent.
Then, Khanna started complaining that DeSantis didn’t have a foreign policy agenda, and it seemed like he was freaking out over his ascension to power. Maher shot back that it would be futile for DeSantis to focus on global policies because he is a governor and Florida isn’t a part of the United Nations.
Maher later added that he thought Biden would win a rematch with Trump in 2024, but he was unsure about Biden’s chances against DeSantis.
Asking, “Could he defeat DeSantis?” This, Maher remarked. What I don’t know is why. And it’s going to seem strange because he’ll be twice as old as him, really, really, and DeSantis has three little children. You should know that will go over well in the United States. The American public has a penchant for the cutting edge.
In a nutshell, “DeSantis should run immediately,” Maher said. That’s the crux of Chris Christie’s dilemma, right there.
And Costa agreed: “Right.” He could have run for office in 2011 or 2012. It’s not uncommon in politics to just get one shot at anything.
According to Maher, “the longer you remain at the fair, the more beaten up you are.” Just as when people stated Obama that he had no record and he said, “Good,” here is an example of how he would respond to criticism. Great. “It’s a good thing I have no criminal history.
According to Costa, “this is his moment in the sense that the Republican Party is starting to say” no to Trump for the first time in seven years.
Maher agreed and said, “Precisely.”