CBS News’ already tattered reputation has continued to take a bruising in the aftermath of the deceptive report they ran on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis where they edited out crucial comments he made in response to a question from a “60 Minutes” reporter and declined to interview a key Democrat in the state who would have busted their DeSantis/Publix “pay to play” narrative.
Front and center on the pushback against the network’s hit job has been DeSantis himself, who appeared on Tucker Carlson’s program Monday night to forcefully respond to the “report” and to set the record straight on Florida’s vaccination distribution program. Among other things, DeSantis noted that CBS News “didn’t tell you we were doing African American church vaccination drives before Publix gave a single shot… They don’t believe in facts. It was a political narrative.”
True to form, DeSantis made clear in comments delivered earlier today that he is not done owning “60 Minutes” and other media outlets that continue to tell falsehoods about Florida’s response to the pandemic. Calling the program’s premise “horse manure,” DeSantis explained that the actions taken by those who put the fake news story together were a perfect example of why “nobody trusts corporate media” anymore:
“They cut out everything that showed that their narrative was a piece of horse manure,” he said. “It shows how dishonest they are — smear merchants. That’s why nobody trusts corporate media. They are a disaster in what they are doing. They knew what they were doing was a lie. I knew what they were doing was a lie. We offered them the information and they declined to interview the key people because they didn’t want to let go of the narrative. Well, guess what? There’s going to be consequences for that.”
As to what those “consequences” would be? DeSantis did not mince words:
“I know corporate media thinks that they can just run over people. You ain’t runnin’ over this governor. I’m punchin’ back, and I’m gonna continue to do it until these smear merchants are held accountable.”
Watch:
Today @GovRonDeSantis hits back at corporate media lies. My favorite part 👇 pic.twitter.com/AXHvRIIPAh
— Christina Pushaw is on #TeamReality (@ChristinaPushaw) April 6, 2021
Here’s the longer version of the same clip where DeSantis elaborated more on Florida’s coronavirus vaccination statistics:
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis responds to the 60 Minutes segment about him:
“I know corporate media thinks that they can just run over people. You ain’t running over this Governor. I’m punching back.”pic.twitter.com/hqedh1gnpk
— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) April 6, 2021
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis re: scathing 60 Minutes report on alleged preferential vaccine treatment: “They lied – they lied and there will be consequences.”
“You ain’t running over this governor and I’m punching back” @WPBF25News pic.twitter.com/8X4iglbeWz— Terri Parker (@wpbf_terri) April 6, 2021
Will the media’s dishonest attacks against DeSantis stop after this? Don’t bet on it. But what you can bet on it is that DeSantis won’t be like some Republican governors who wilt when under attack by the Usual Suspects. He’ll stand and fight and let the chips fall where they may, and at a time when the media has simply dropped all pretense of objectivity, that attitude is needed now more than ever.
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