Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was pulled into a conversation about his future presidential prospects as he appeared on the HBO political talk show “Real Time with Bill Maher” last week.

While criticizing the Democratic Party for purportedly over-prioritizing identity and diversity when it comes to its candidates, Maher suggested Polis’ sexuality – he’s an openly gay man – would be at an advantage “when you run for president.” 

“The Democratic Party is very big on checking boxes, and it’s very hard to imagine any ticket now on the Democratic side that would have just two straight white men,” Maher said. “They need to check boxes, you check one of them.”

After Polis brushed off the insinuation and made a pitch for Colorado’s tourism industry, Maher asked him directly about his interest in the office.

“So you’ll never run for president?” Maher asked. 

“I love this job that I have. This is the job I wanted,” Polis responded.

Polis in the past has demurred when asked about his interest in running for president, stating as he did on Maher’s show that he is focused on his role as governor of Colorado. Still, he is a mainstay on shortlists identifying potential candidates for 2024. 

The comedian also compared Polis to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has recently made national headlines as a possible GOP presidential nominee to rival former President Donald Trump in 2024.  

Maher praised Polis for his landslide reelection victory – winning 58.5% of votes – noting that one of the only other governors reelected by a similar margin was DeSantis, receiving 59.4% of votes. The comparisons didn’t stop there, with Maher saying both Polis and DeSantis “were much more hands-off than a lot of governors” when it came to COVID-19 regulations.

“You could be the Democrat DeSantis,” Maher said.

“I don’t like to think of myself that way,” Polis responded. “He’s smart on policies, he’s done some things right. What I don’t really like about (DeSantis) – and I served with Ron in the House for a little bit – is kind of the divisiveness, attacking people, attacking companies. Colorado is for everybody. I ran on Colorado for all.”

Polis touted his achievements during his first term as governor, listing economic policies including ending income tax on social security, eliminating sales tax on diapers and cutting income and property taxes. He also emphasized personal responsibility as his COVID-19 policy, saying “it’s up to people to take their own precautions.”

Maher applauded this stance, also bringing up a bill Polis signed earlier this year, updating child abuse and neglect laws to allow children to participate in reasonably independent and safe activities, such as walking to and from school, playing outside or staying home alone.

“It’s commonsense,” Maher said. “Which sounds more like a Libertarian. … Does the Democratic Party have a problem with this issue? It used to be the case that you could be a Libertarian and a liberal at the same time, I feel like that’s gone away.”

Polis defended the Democratic Party as being more pro-freedom and pro-liberty than the Republican Party, saying Republicans are “trying to micromanage what you do in your bedroom, who you love, when you have kids, all these very intimate things.” 

Polis also spoke of the struggles he faced as a gay man running for public office, saying elder Democratic statesmen tried to convince him not to run because he would “lose our state to Republicans, our state will never elect somebody who’s gay.”

“The people of Colorado said it doesn’t matter. What we care about is what you stand for and what you’re going to do,” Polis said. “And look, it’s not a bad thing that the Democratic Party wants to look like America. … People should be able to look at themselves in the mirror and say, ‘there’s somebody like me in Congress, or somebody like me on the Supreme Court.’ That’s a good thing. … These barriers that are in people’s minds still, that somehow I can’t do this, I think these are falling away.” 

Maher ended the interview by wishing Polis “good luck in your run for president.”