English (US) 
9 months ago
92
"Real Time" host Bill Maher revealed his "dream" ticket for 2024 would be President Biden running alongside former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Haley suspended her presidential campaign this week following a disappointing Super Tuesday turnout and refrained from throwing her support behind former President Trump, the sole Republican sailing towards the nomination.
During Friday's panel discussion, Maher insisted Haley doesn't have a future in the Republican Party "as long as Trump is ascendent" and suggested a different political path for her.
"I know it's crazy to think that she could run with Biden, but that's my dream, a unity ticket," Maher said. "And then he would, I think, definitely win."
"And of course, she's said some crazy thing. Most politicians have- not as crazy as 'We've never been a racist country.' I mean, that's pretty crazy," Maher added.
Puck correspondent Tara Palmeri argued that swapping Vice President Kamala Harris for Haley would "literally destroy" the Democratic base.
"But she's a woman of color," Maher doubled down.
"Yeah but Black women are like the core of the Democratic Party," Palmeri responded.
"Okay, so not that," Maher agreed.
The HBO host then floated outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, as Biden's Secretary of State.
"Something to reach across so that we don't live in this world where everybody sees the other side as an existential threat," Maher said.
Maher began workshopping the idea of swapping Harris out of the Democratic ticket in October 2022.
"What I could see is replacing the vice president," Maher said at the time, which immediately sparked applause from his liberal audience. "Because she's just not very popular anywhere. And it didn't seem to work out. And, I don't know, that's been done before on a ticket."
Meanwhile, Haley has previously ruled out a third party run and nixed the idea of a unity ticket after one was floated by then-Democratic hopeful Dean Phillips, who also suspended his presidential campaign this week.
Despite having signed the RNC pledge to support the eventual nominee in order to participate in the primary debates, Haley has yet to offer her endorsement to Trump, suggesting he first has to earn the support of her voters.
"It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that," Haley said Wednesday. "At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing."
