Outspokenly liberal talk show host Bill Maher had some surprisingly kind words for the outspokenly conservative governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis.
Maher had DeSantis on the Friday episode of his “Real Time with Bill Maher” talk show.
You can watch part of the appearance below:
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Maher was cordial enough with DeSantis, but he did sneak in some cheap shots at Republicans like Kari Lake and largely peppered DeSantis with needling questions.
He grilled the governor on his lackluster presidential campaign, his debate performances and the authenticity of the 2020 election.
But not included in the above clip (posted on Maher’s YouTube channel) was a later portion of the conversation in which Maher fully admitted that DeSantis was right about the country’s response to COVID-19.
WARNING: The following clip contains language that viewers may find offensive.
Left-wing Bill Maher can admit this, but not Donald Trump.
“It’s unfair what they did to you because you did handle [COVID] better…You were right. You were like, let’s protect the people who are most vulnerable and everybody else can go on with their lives.” pic.twitter.com/MSJN61edWj
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) September 30, 2023
“You keep wanting to get back to [the topic of COVID-19], and I don’t blame you,” Maher told DeSantis. “Because you’re right. We’re on the same page there.
“I think it’s unfair what they did to you because you did handle it better. You did handle it better.
“You were right. You were like, let’s … protect the people who are most vulnerable. And everybody else can go on with their lives.”
Maher further lauded DeSantis’ push to reopen schools for in-person learning, again admitting that the Florida governor was “more right.”
When Maher tried to say that DeSantis deserved more credit for his COVID-19 response, the GOP presidential hopeful immediately squashed that idea.
“It’s not about credit for me, though,” DeSantis said over applause from the audience. “It’s about them admitting that they were wrong.
“Because they are setting us up. If this happened again, they would repeat the same playbook all over again, and if we don’t have accountability, that’s what’s going to happen.
“So I’ll bring accountability so it never happens in our country again.”
According to the most recent polling data from Real Clear Politics, former President Donald Trump is leading DeSantis in the GOP primary race by a whopping 43.9 points.
Behind DeSantis, in third and fourth place respectively, are former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
