Christina Pushaw’s work is never done. As press secretary for Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, she’s constantly out there fending off false narratives from liberals and media who are using their fear of Ron DeSantis’ popularity to try to kneecap him now so he doesn’t become a serious presidential contender in 2024.
Yesterday was no different.
Miami Herald Capitol Bureau Chief Mary Ellen Klas reported that a conference of immigration attorneys and wealth management companies rescinded an invitation to have DeSantis be the keynote speaker at their Miami conference next month:
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
“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.
…
Marie Ekberg Padilla, senior editor and vice president of operations for EB-5 Investors Magazine, quickly responded [to an email from New-York-based attorney Mona Shah]. “As a bipartisan organization, the keynote was simply chosen as the highest figure in the state of our event, and we have historically had keynotes from both sides of the aisle,’’ she wrote in the email to Kurzban and others. “With that, a decision has been made to reconsider DeSantis. He will not be joining our event in Miami.”
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The governor’s office responded late Thursday that its external affairs office had no record of the event and urged a reporter to check with the governor’s reelection campaign, which may have handled the scheduling. The campaign has not responded to requests for comment.
— Mary Ellen Klas (@MaryEllenKlas) March 24, 2022
Hmmm … how’s this for a response, Mary Ellen?
Issue a correction. pic.twitter.com/hGTNNzZ1a2
— Christina Pushaw 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) March 25, 2022
In a completely shocking turn of events, Mary Ellen Klas did not issue a correction (at least she hadn’t issued a correction by the time of this post’s publication). And — lo and behold! — the false narrative has spread.
From Politico Florida bureau chief Matt Dixon this morning:
Investment conference in Miami cancels DeSantis’ speech over ‘anti-immigrant’ views https://t.co/idwDpuJghG via @MaryEllenKlas
— Matt Dixon (@Mdixon55) March 25, 2022
Oh.
Politico now spreading the debunked falsehood. Incredible how journalists in the Florida Capitol press corps trip over themselves to defend shoddy “journalism.” MEK never verified her story; it is inaccurate, Gov. DeSantis was never scheduled to speak so how could it be canceled? https://t.co/YHKchK4di8
— Christina Pushaw 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) March 25, 2022
Well, according to Maria Ekberg Padilla, it wasn’t canceled.
Matt this is false. Stop spreading disinformation pic.twitter.com/sKD9NpZpqR
— Christina Pushaw 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) March 25, 2022
But it’s so much fun!
If you clap hard enough, Tinkerbell makes the Sources Say true.
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) March 25, 2022
It's literally them thinking, "If we say it enough, it will be true."
— Mike Rathbone (@MikeRathbone86) March 25, 2022
We have to assume that PolitiFact won’t bother to chime in with a ruling on this. But if they did, it’s safe to say that they’d be harder on Ron DeSantis for not actually having anything to do with the conference than they’d be on journalists for lying about it.
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