"Real Time" host Bill Maher shared his hypothetical ideal ticket for the 2024 presidential race, envisioning President Biden paired with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Haley halted her presidential campaign this week after lackluster Super Tuesday results and refrained from endorsing former President Trump, the leading Republican contender for the nomination.

Maher floats Biden swapping out Harris and replacing her with Nikki Haley: ‘That’s my dream, a unity ticket’ https://t.co/fzXW6O8syy

— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 10, 2024

The discussion

During a panel discussion on Friday's episode, Maher suggested that Haley's future within the Republican Party appears limited "as long as Trump is ascendant" and proposed an alternative political trajectory for her.

"I know it's crazy to think that she could run with Biden, but that's my dream, a unity ticket," Maher remarked. "And then he would, I think, definitely win."

Acknowledging Haley's controversial remarks, Maher noted, "And of course, she's said some crazy things. Most politicians have- not as crazy as 'We've never been a racist country.' I mean, that's pretty crazy."

The reaction

Puck correspondent Tara Palmeri contended that replacing Vice President Kamala Harris with Haley would "literally destroy" the Democratic base.

"But she's a woman of color," Maher countered.

"Yeah but Black women are like the core of the Democratic Party," Palmeri retorted. "Okay, so not that," Maher conceded, before suggesting outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) as Biden's potential Secretary of State to foster bipartisan outreach.

"Something to reach across so that we don't live in this world where everybody sees the other side as an existential threat," Maher remarked.

Not the first time

Maher first broached the idea of replacing Harris on the Democratic ticket in October 2022, generating applause from his liberal audience. "What I could see is replacing the vice president," he stated at the time.

"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," he added.

While Haley has ruled out a third-party run and dismissed the notion of a unity ticket, despite a proposal by then-Democratic contender Dean Phillips, she has refrained from endorsing Trump, insisting he must earn the support of her constituents first.

"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 remarked on 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."