On Tuesday, HBO host and comedian Bill Maher appeared in an interview with CNN, in which he spoke highly of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and called his coronavirus response “smarter” than what his critics argued he should have done.
Maher specifically commended DeSantis keeping the beaches open during the pandemic and taking a “targeted” approach that “protected the elderly.”
He described the policies as “a breath of fresh air,” compared to what was happening in other states, like New York.
Maher explained that DeSantis “can be a real old-school Republican who just takes care of business, COVID, the hurricane, stuff like that. He just goes about his business. He doesn’t do crazy stuff. But then, when he wants to throw red meat to the base, he’s a performance artist. And he does a lot of really outrageous stuff. But I get it that that’s where the party is. If you want a big future in that party, especially if you want to take on Donald Trump, you’ve got to ride both those horses at once.”
He continued, “I was [in Florida] during COVID. It was night and day from this place. And I am not one who was ever on the page with COVID paranoia. So, I thought it was a breath of fresh air. And the people there, when they would visit me here sometimes, they would say, oh my God — in the middle of the pandemic — what are you — you people live like this? It’s so unnecessary. We don’t live like this. And it turned out a lot of what Ron DeSantis did was smarter than what the people who were criticizing were saying. He kept the beaches open. Yes, you’re not going to get it outside. In fact, it’s good. Get some fresh air and some sunshine, that would be better for you. And he also protected the elderly. It was much more targeted. It was sort of the opposite of what happened in New York State.”
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