Bill Maher blasts New York Times ‘despicable hit piece’ on DeSantis over COVID strategy

Florida GOP Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis joined HBO's “Real Time” host Bill Maher to discuss his campaign. 

During the interview on Friday, Maher slammed a New York Times article that criticized DeSantis and how he handled the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. 

“I saw The New York Times did such a despicable hit piece on you....I forget what the headline was, but it was basically, 'Ron DeSantis f*cked up the pandemic,'" Maher said.

"And then, like at the very end, it says Florida’s death rate, overall, was better than the national average," he continued. "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.”

DeSantis also slammed his primary opponent, former President Donald Trump, saying he is "missing in action" for not attending the GOP debates. 

"He's not showing up," DeSantis said. "He's missing in action. He owes it to voters to show up and defend his record, and I think he thinks he can take a juiced poll, and then people don't get to vote."

"You got to go earn votes. So I'm showing up," he added.