While no one can really compete with the sheer volume and seriousness of fake news pushed by outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post, Florida’s press industry is doing its level best. Publications like The Miami Herald, The Sun-Sentinel, and The Tampa Bay Times have made it their mission to burn down their languishing credibility in order to take shots at Gov. Ron DeSantis, and that’s meant the publication of false reports more than a time or two.

The latest example comes via The Miami Herald, which stands as the big dog of far-left, biased reporting in the Sunshine state. On Thursday, they put out the claim that DeSantis is so terrible that he was uninvited from speaking at a conference of immigration supporters.

NEW: A conference of immigration attorneys and wealth management companies who work with international investors and real estate developers cancels @GovRonDeSantis’ speech over ‘anti-immigrant’ views https://t.co/RMEiw8Wa7X

— Mary Ellen Klas (@MaryEllenKlas) March 24, 2022

Now, to be sure, had he been uninvited, why would that be an indictment of anything? DeSantis is not anti-immigration anymore than Trump is anti-immigration. Both support strong border enforcement and limiting the number of entrants based on merit and need. DeSantis has never suggested we have zero immigration. To that extent, had the governor been snubbed because this conference wants unfettered, unchecked open borders, that would have been just been fine.

That’s not what happened, though. In reality, DeSantis was not only not uninvited, but he was never invited in the first place.

HahahahhahhHaha it’s all so fake pic.twitter.com/JMdaqelBtY

— Cernovich (@Cernovich) March 24, 2022

Issue a correction. pic.twitter.com/hGTNNzZ1a2

— Christina Pushaw 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) March 25, 2022

Note that had the EB5 Conference uninvited DeSantis because he’s oh so bad, they wouldn’t be defending him right now, noting that it was an unchecked staff error at fault (i.e. someone put him on a schedule before anyone confirmed anything). But they are, which is about as solid proof as can exist that the Herald’s report was false.

But that leaves the next part of this. Where did this reporter get the idea that a speech by DeSantis was canceled over “anti-immigrant” views? Did she just make that up? The answer is yes, yes she did.

There was apparently an email she garnered from an attendee, not anyone actually involved in organizing the event, who ranted about DeSantis being anti-immigration. Mary Ellen Klaus, the reporter in question, then took that as some kind of proof that DeSantis was uninvited due to anti-immigrant views, something that didn’t even happen. In other words, she connected two dots that were miles apart with half a dozen other dots between them.

“I was seriously considering your kind invitation until I was informed that you have decided to ask Ron DeSantis to be the keynote speaker at the conference,’‘ wrote Ira Kurzban, a prominent Miami immigration lawyer in an email to the conference hosts, EB-5 Investors magazine. Kurzban shared his email with the Miami Herald.

“Mr. DeSantis, also known as a mini-me for his Trump-like tactics, has engaged in the most virulent anti-immigrant conduct we have ever seen by a public official in this state,’’ he wrote.

Aside from the outright lies, the other major problem here once again manifests in a major news outlet (for Florida at least) so wanting to publish a hit piece that it refused to do basic due diligence. The reporter here could have reached out to the governor’s office and given time for a response but she didn’t. She could have even reached out to the EB5 Conference organizers and given time for a response but she didn’t. Those weren’t oversights, though. Rather, the rush to get a punch at DeSantis overrode any journalistic integrity.

Unfortunately for the Herald and Klaus, DeSantis’ office is not one to be trifled with. If you are going to take a swing at the king, you best not miss.