Last night “60 Minutes” aired a hit piece on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, which in part tries to give the impression that Publix stores were chosen as a private-sector location for vaccine distribution because they donated to the governor’s PAC:
Campaign finance reports obtained by 60 Minutes show that weeks before Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a partnership with Publix grocery stores to distribute the vaccine in its pharmacies, Publix donated $100,000 to his PAC. https://t.co/bS3ZBeET1W pic.twitter.com/BSUlpVbXSP
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 4, 2021
The story had red flags all over it from the get-go:
"Obtained by 60 Minutes?" It's public record. I found this info in less than two minutes. That's not the kind of language outlets normally/should use for info posted publicly — more for documents that sources give reporters/outlets. Super weird and pretentious phrasing. https://t.co/vZUXUVoEZP
— Emily Brooks (@emilyelarsen) April 5, 2021
The DeSantis 60 minutes piece was one of the more blatant political hatchet jobs in the past couple years and that’s saying something. Selectively editing videos and omitting evidence just to conjure up a predetermined narrative isn’t journalism, it’s tabloid fodder.
— Alicia Smith (@Alicia_Smith19) April 5, 2021
Here’s what Florida’s Director of Emergency Management — a Democrat — had to say about the “60 Minutes” story:
@60Minutes I said this before and I’ll say it again. @Publix was recommended by @FLSERT and @HealthyFla as the other pharmacies were not ready to start. Period! Full Stop! No one from the Governors office suggested Publix. It’s just absolute malarkey. https://t.co/obkqYcbrzt
— Jared MASKowitz ? (@JaredEMoskowitz) April 4, 2021
Recommended
Moskowitz was appointed to his position by DeSantis but has a solidly Democrat history:
This is Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. He’s a Democrat, served as one in the state legislature until 2019, and campaigned for Gore and Obama. He’s not falling for this absolute garbage, and neither should you. https://t.co/Ng3pyNI87W
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) April 5, 2021
They engaged in partisan “journalism”? What a, uh, surprise.
https://twitter.com/PartymanRandy/status/1378901707321708547
CBS cut out the answer in order to fabricate a scandal where none exists because its editors cannot cope with the reality. https://t.co/79GZXGT6QK
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) April 4, 2021
60 Minutes makes the same mistake the dozens of national outlets have made when it comes to Ron DeSantis and Florida
Publix was the first retail pharmacy ready to handle this massive undertaking & it’s objectively one of the most trusted & respected companies in America https://t.co/7JCXYvKvpN
— Jesse Hunt (@JJHunt10) April 4, 2021
And what are the odds it was just a “mistake”?
So it turns out this is a lie & 60 Minutes used deceptive edits to create a narrative. https://t.co/W8sTYq6SU1
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 5, 2021
@AGHamilton29 was among the first to spot it when the “60 Minutes” video was being promoted:
They just can't help themselves. They are obsessed with trying to invent a scandal for FL where none exists.
Publix has over 800 locations in FL. It is by far the most prominent story in the state. It's the obvious choice for vaccinations. Also, Publix donated to both parties. https://t.co/NqHq3QcvHX
— AG (@AGHamilton29) April 2, 2021
Wow. And it appears that @60Minutes edited the clip to cut out several minutes of @GovRonDeSantis giving extensive details showing just how wrong this narrative is..
Here is the full clip with the question starting ~1:40: https://t.co/bbQ2o33kWn
— AG (@AGHamilton29) April 2, 2021
They literally cut out him explaining the whole process including who was responsible for LTCs (not Publix), how Publix raised their hand as CVS/Wallgreens was doing LTCs, how they had a trial to test it, why it worked, & how now CVS/Walgreen's are being used now.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) April 2, 2021
It appears the above YouTube has been set to private for now but Daily Wire has a full transcript including all the parts that 60 Minutes edited out: https://t.co/ZsXi5sLvLN
— AG (@AGHamilton29) April 5, 2021
And take a look at this:
The full unedited video shows that 60 Minutes cut out everything in bold from DeSantis in the transcript below. Pretty wild.https://t.co/7JtTrd69ikhttps://t.co/D2m7IpyD0U https://t.co/ctTwTEcJoT pic.twitter.com/MMOg987nJp
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) April 5, 2021
Well, at least the DeSantis piece allowed “60 Minutes” to ignore doing a deep dive into what happened in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state for a few more days.
Publix is one of the biggest grocery store chains in Florida. What's the alternative here — that he purposefully *not* put vaccines in Publix stores?
Do a show on Cuomo and the tens of thousands he killed in nursing homes instead of clutching pearls over Publix. https://t.co/Ths8m7IjzG
— Erielle Davidson (@politicalelle) April 5, 2021
Florida's governor distributing vaccines to the largest supermarket chain in his state is a scandal for the same network that gave Cuomo a dozen glowing segments after he sent a bunch of old people to die. It's just unbearable.
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 5, 2021
In the eyes of Democrats in the media, the real “crime” Gov. DeSantis has committed is proving that some state governors ruined their economies for nothing and botched vaccine rollouts:
Also a side note, DeSantis opened up vaccine appointments for anyone over the age of 16 today.
— Mindy (@just_mindy) April 5, 2021
Also, if there was extra vaccine left at the end of the day, DeSantis told hospitals and other providers to get it in arms and not waste doses.
— Mindy (@just_mindy) April 5, 2021
And social media companies will do exactly zero about this:
If @Twitter actually cared about misinformation and public health, they'd suspend @60Minutes.
But @Twitter doesn't actually care about that.
— RBe (@RBPundit) April 5, 2021
No “contains misinformation” flags from Twitter or anybody else? Shocker!
“60 Minutes” did at least include reactions from Publix and DeSantis:
In a statement to 60 Minutes, Publix says there is no connection between the supermarket chain's campaign contributions and its partnership with the state to administer the vaccine. The company's full statement can be read here: https://t.co/gyrW9hYPTg
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 4, 2021
"What you're saying is wrong," Gov DeSantis tells Sharyn Alfonsi in response to a question about whether the Publix grocery store chain gained influence through a campaign donation on his behalf. "It's wrong. It's a fake narrative," he says. https://t.co/gyrW9hYPTg pic.twitter.com/5rBq7v5VOA
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 4, 2021
“Fake narrative”? Yeah, we’ve seen a lot of that lately.
Editor’s note: This post was updated to include an additional tweet.