AP reporter Brendan Farrington claimed he received death threats over an article he wrote saying, “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been criticized for opposing mask mandates, is now touting a COVID-19 antibody treatment in which a top donor’s company has invested millions of dollars. DeSantis has been promoting the treatment as virus cases spike”:
https://twitter.com/bsfarrington/status/1427882742163906563
What he’s talking about is the debunked blue-anon conspiracy theory we told you about on Tuesday claiming DeSantis pushed the Regeneron monoclonal antibody therapy over vaccines because of a campaign donor:
‘Unethical’: Christina Pushaw slams Nikki Fried campaign consultant for risking lives to push ‘BlueAnon conspiracy theory’ about Gov. Ron DeSantis https://t.co/Dsf79RDqQa
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 18, 2021
Here’s the embarrassing article with the headline, “DeSantis top donor invests in COVID drug governor promotes”:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been criticized for opposing mask mandates, is now touting a COVID-19 antibody treatment in which a top donor's company has invested millions of dollars. DeSantis has been promoting the treatment as virus cases spike. https://t.co/0TwgYlONVh
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 18, 2021
DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw said she was on the phone with both Farrington and his boss “for hours” last night and they “could not explain: the basics of hedge funds, who holds shares of Regeneron, or who is making money from Gov. DeSantis’ promotion of monoclonals (answer: no one).” She also reported that Ravi Nessman,”South news director for The Associated Press,” “wanted the headline”:
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I was on the phone w/ @bsfarrington & his boss Ian for hours tonight. They could not explain: the basics of hedge funds, who holds shares of Regeneron, or who is making money from Gov. DeSantis' promotion of monoclonals (answer: no one). They said @ravinessman wanted the headline https://t.co/9uL8n6cAVF
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 18, 2021
The “headline that is misleading at best, and includes facts that entirely absolve DeSantis deep in the article’s text”:
This is the Publix "Scandal" all over again.@bsfarrington seems to be taking his cues from Alex Nazaryan, where he writes a headline that is misleading at best, and includes facts that entirely absolve DeSantis deep in the article's text. https://t.co/OkCSotLf4b pic.twitter.com/GXpSEFeCKj
— Max (@MaxNordau) August 18, 2021
Now *this* is how you respond to a trash article:
Hey @bsfarrington. Sad to see this cheap political innuendo from AP. Should be “DeSantis & Biden Agree Monoclonals Save Lives.”
You KNEW this isn’t a story. You KNOW you can’t defend it. You said your “boss’s boss” wouldn’t change the headline—& you refused to tell me his name. pic.twitter.com/5dA5jP1Ys1
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 18, 2021
By the way, what I do know about the supposed “boss’s boss” — who supposedly forced @bsfarrington to write this non-story that he knows full well is total BS — is that his first name is Robbie and he works at AP in Atlanta. Would love to chat with him!
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 18, 2021
Mystery solved, I think. The boss’s boss is @ravinessman. Hi Ravi, my DMs are open and you can get my number from @bsfarrington. Happy to walk you through why this is complete nonsense and better understand your reasoning for clinging to this baseless headline.
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 18, 2021
She even sent him a thread from Tampa Bay Times reporter Kirby Wilson who debunked the story himself earlier in the day:
I sent him the thread debunking the Regeneron conspiracy theory pic.twitter.com/NReM1op9VF
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 18, 2021
Here’s that thread:
I've seen quite a few tweets about Gov. DeSantis and donations he has received from the CEO of a hedge fund, Citadel, that is invested in Regeneron. I looked into the accusations a bit. Here are some important facts. 1/
— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) August 17, 2021
Regeneron already sold all ~1.5 million doses of its monoclonal antibody cocktail to the U.S. government, per a spokesperson. DeSantis is now urging COVID-positive Floridians to avail themselves of this treatment. Doesn't much matter to Regeneron (financially) if they do. 2/
— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) August 17, 2021
Citadel is not in the top 100 of Regeneron's shareholders, according to the NASDAQ. Citadel has ~$38 billion in assets, and it owns about ~$36 million worth of Regeneron shares. 3/ https://t.co/Mvybi1MP5u
— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) August 17, 2021
The Citadel did increase its position in Regeneron by ~38k shares, or ~193 percent, in the second quarter, per NASDAQ. But that quarter ended June 30, when cases and hospitalizations weren't skyrocketing in Florida. 4/
— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) August 17, 2021
Finally, some are saying DeSantis has downplayed vaccines in favor of Regeneron. Florida is 20th in vaccination rate per capita, according to the CDC, and it's the most vaccinated state that voted for Trump in 2020. 5/https://t.co/zIK50MopgQ
— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) August 17, 2021
Has DeSantis done enough to push vaccination? I got into that question here a few weeks back. /end https://t.co/8lmOBKegED
— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) August 17, 2021
Postscript: As @SkylerSwisher noted, the White House is also pushing these treatments to states that need them. Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a co-chair of President-elect Biden's COVID-19 advisory board, said this last week: https://t.co/wILNGZACxO pic.twitter.com/CvaIwhdQVb
— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) August 17, 2021
The AP is utter trash and they know it:
Interesting how the journalist who wrote this @bsfarrington will not defend it himself on Twitter. He knows it’s indefensible. He knows it’s false. He knows it’s a non story. He told me his boss @ravinessman forced him to write it and demanded THIS headline. Shameful. https://t.co/kjRZGCm94x
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 18, 2021
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