‘The Whole Thing is a Big Lie’: DeSantis Slams ‘Malicious’ 60 Minutes ‘Smear’ Job
If corporate media is “going to come down here & smear our efforts or smear me or smear great companies in my state, I’m going to hit ’em back right between the eyes.”
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis went off on 60 Minutes’ “malicious” fable about the state’s COVID vaccine rollout.
“It was malicious what they did,” said DeSantis. “That was their goal, to simply try to smear Florida, smear me, smear whoever they could in the process.”
You all know the story by now. 60 Minutes framed its “report” on the rollout as a “pay to play” scheme between DeSantis and Publix. The news program insisted DeSantis gave Publix contracts for the vaccines if it gave his campaign $100,000.
Evan Donovan, WFLA political reporter, tweeted snippets of DeSantis’s press conference.
"When you're talking about this ridiculous smear narrative, it's important to breakdown just how false it is, how thoroughly dishonest it is, because this is bad for our country," DeSantis says of 60 Minutes piece.https://t.co/fwPolBiJPG @WFLA #BattlegroundFlorida #FlaPol pic.twitter.com/Gg1dqoFSRt
— Evan Donovan (@EvanDonovan) April 7, 2021
"So the whole thing is a big lie," DeSantis says. "CBS certainly knew it was a big lie, but that was their goal, just simply to try to smear Florida, smear me. They're based in New York, how many critical stories are they doing about the governor of New York?"@WFLA #FlaPol pic.twitter.com/k8xuBOLi7A
— Evan Donovan (@EvanDonovan) April 7, 2021
“There was never a deal. There was never a contract” with Publix, DeSantis says. “It’s like sending vaccine to hospitals. You send it to Jackson. They get it, they distribute it.
They can charge Medicare or whatever, but the state wasn’t giving Jackson or Publix any money.” pic.twitter.com/x8pAigXSfg
— Evan Donovan (@EvanDonovan) April 7, 2021
.@GovRonDeSantis takes round 2🥊
"We absolutely saved lives. We done good. I don't need any plaudits from corporate media, but if they're going to come down here & smear our efforts or smear me or smear great companies in my state, I'm going to hit 'em back right between the 👀" pic.twitter.com/gDtPti2Jrl
— Jesse Hunt (@JJHunt10) April 7, 2021
Democrat Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz has become one of DeSantis’s fiercest defenders, especially since CBS tried to throw him under the bus.
I blogged this morning about CBS News attempting to blame Moskowitz for their liberal fairy tale.
Moskowitz said the deal with Publix is simple:
Jared Moskowitz, the outgoing director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, said that when the state needed to open up more COVID-19 vaccinations faster in late December and early January, he reached out to Walmart first about a potential partnership. But the company said it wouldn’t be ready to go for 21 days.
“I then got on the phone with Publix,” Moskowitz said. “And I said, when can you start? 72 hours. That’s it! That’s the whole story!”
* @Publix wasn't chosen for rollout b/c of political donation says @GovRonDeSantis
Emergency Management director @JaredEMoskowitz explained conversation he had w/Publix about distribution:
"I said when you can start? 72 hours," said JM pic.twitter.com/RuaANxzMSM
— MAHSA SAEIDI, ESQ. (@MahsaWho) April 7, 2021
Here is the whole press conference.
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Comments
Quick, someone who really likes a nice juicy cancellation and Biden for life check should make a gif of DeSantis punching 60 minutes in a wrestling match so they can be doxxed from our existence.
I’m seriously gaining a particular disdain for the media. More than the disdain I previously had for them. Ivory tower dwelling useful idiots..
The only way to combat these constant media smears against conservatives is to confront them and win in court. If Publix and hopefully the State of Florida comes forth with a suit against 60 minutes and wins, it won’t completely stop this kind of reporting but it would seriously derail it.
One would hope. Even though DeSantis and Moskowitz are public figures it seems all the elements in this case are there for a successful lawsuit.
But Katie Couric also lied by falsely editing an interview with gun rights activists in Virginia for her documentary Under The Gun. Her crew asked the gun rights activists to sit quietly for a few minutes while they ran a sound check. That was a lie. They were secretly recording video as they sat for what to them clearly seemed like an eternity. After a few seconds one guy leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. Another leaned forward, interlocked his fingers, and stared at the floor.
Then they recorded Katie Couric in the same room, the same position she was in when interviewing these people, but now the room is empty. She asks the empty room, “Why do you oppose universal background checks?” When she spliced the two sections together she made it look like the activists couldn’t think of an answer.
They sued her and her network for defamation and lost. Couric et al defended themselves by saying it wasn’t a “hard news” documentary but meant purely as entertainment. I wonder if CBS had already run the concept by their lawyers before ever letting 60 minutes off the leash.