Maher: NYT’s ‘Hit Piece’ on DeSantis and COVID that Buried FL Outperforming Average Was ‘Despicable’ 

While speaking to 2024 GOP presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday’s edition of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that he doesn’t think DeSantis gets enough credit for how he handled COVID by the media and specifically blasted The New York Times for its “despicable hit piece” on DeSantis.

Maher said that DeSantis wants to talk about COVID, “because you’re right, we’re on the same page there. And 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 target the people, protect the people who are most vulnerable, and everybody else can go on with their lives. A little better — you opened schools sooner. And a lot of the stuff that’s come in, the information we have, now, we’ve had a few years to look at it, you were more right. And they won’t give you credit for that.”

He added, “I saw The New York Times did such a despicable hit piece on you, that I saw, because — I forget what the lead headline was, but it was basically, Ron DeSantis f*cked up the pandemic. And then, like at the very end, it says Florida’s death rate, overall, was better than the national average. Now, if you’re going to do an article about Florida and the pandemic, shouldn’t that be the lede? Talk about burying the lede.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett