Bill Maher suggested that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis should just wait and run for president after Trump dies, politically speaking. As expectations build that DeSantis will run for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, suddenly Maher is changing his tune about a possible DeSantis candidacy.

During this week’s episode of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, he advised DeSantis to avoid battling in the mud with Trump and just wait it out. Wait his turn, so to speak, until Trump was no longer an issue in a GOP primary.

“I personally think that would be a mistake for him,” Maher began a panel discussion on Friday. “Because he’s 46, I think. Just let Trump die… politically, I mean. Or, you know, he’s older. It could happen. I’m not wishing it, but OK. He’d still only be 50.”

DeSantis is even younger than Maher said. He’s 44 years old. Obviously, he has plenty of time to run for president if he wants to, but that isn’t the point. The point is that in politics, you have to strike while the iron is hot. This is the moment for DeSantis.

Guest Kristen Soltis Anderson, a Republican pollster, said that running against Trump is like “running into a wood chipper” but argued that Maher is wrong. DeSantis should not wait. This is, she said, his “moment.” “You don’t get your moment all the time in American politics.” Maher said, “It’s gonna be his moment in four years anyway.” Soltis Anderson pointed out the crucial point – in four years, DeSantis won’t be governor of Florida.

The whole reason DeSantis has leaped to the number one or number two spot in the GOP primary, depending if you are determined that Trump run again or not, is because of his very successful time as governor. He just won re-election by twenty points and is hugely popular. He turned Miami-Dade County red again. And, most importantly, he is credited with turning Florida into a solidly red state. That is important in presidential elections. If he is serious about running for president, it has to be in 2024.

Maher said in past months that DeSantis can beat Trump in the primary race and called him “powerful.”

Maher said in 2022 that DeSantis had “more than a shot” to defeat Trump in a GOP primary. In November, he hailed DeSantis as “powerful” while declaring Trump a “loser.”

He also previously suggested DeSantis would be a “way better” White House alternative to Trump, saying the Florida governor is not “certifiably insane.”

Two people who don’t want Ron DeSantis to run are Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Both men know that DeSantis would very likely win the 2024 presidential race. Trump will not defeat Biden and Biden will not defeat DeSantis, in my humble opinion. There is a real desire for generational change. Republican voters and independent voters are ready to turn the page from Trump and move ahead. DeSantis is the future, Trump is the past. This is not to take anything away from Trump’s term as president. He was a very successful conservative president. We can thank him for his service and wish him well.

We need a strong, conservative Republican in 2024 to run against Joe Biden. The contrast between Ron DeSantis and Joe Biden on a debate stage would be amazing. DeSantis is articulate when it comes to talking about conservative ideas and principles and can make short work of Biden’s confused blabbering. The President of Woke versus the Governor of Florida, where “woke goes to die.” It could be epic.