CBS appears to be distancing itself from a 60-minute report, which was criticized by members of both parties as a “hit” against Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The report, which aired Sunday, outlines an alleged ‘pay-for-play’ scheme in which DeSantis accepted a $ 100,000 donation from its grocery store chain Publix, in exchange for the right to distribute the COVID vaccine. as part of the implementation of the state.
Critics explode the report for misleading editing that omits DeSantis’ statement for the vaccine strategy, the omission of Publix’s donations to the Democrats, and broadcast false information even proclaimed by liberals in Florida.
The next day, however, according to Grabien transcripts, there was no mention of the ’60 minutes’ report on ‘CBS This Morning’ or the ‘CBS Evening News’.
CBS ’60 MINUTES ‘ACCUSED OF EDITING BETWEEN DESANTIS, REPORTER PRESS’ PAY FOR PLAY ‘NARRATIVE
A preview clip released Friday before the show airs shows a tense exchange between DeSantis and ’60 Minutes’ correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, over what the CBS reporter suggests it was influenced by.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a press conference at a Publix Super Market in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Wednesday, January 13, 2021. (Bob Self / The Florida Times-Union via AP) V
(AP)
“As you know, Publix donated $ 100,000 to your campaign,” Alfonsi began in the track. “And then you rewarded them with the exclusive rights to distribute the vaccine in Palm Beach -“
“First, what you say is wrong,” DeSantis interrupted.
“How can it not be paid for playing?” Ask Alfonsi.
“This is a false story,” DeSantis replied. “I met the mayor of the country, I met the administrator, I met all the people in Palm Beach County and I said, ‘Here are some of the options: we can do more throughput, we can do more to hospitals, we can do the Publix. “And they said, ‘We think that would be the easiest thing for our residents.’
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Alfonsi then told that Melissa McKinlay commissioner of Palm Beach County claims that DeSantis never met her about the Publix agreement.
“The criticism here is that pay for game, governor,” Alfonsi told DeSantis.
“And that’s wrong, that’s wrong,” the governor shot back. “It’s a fake story. I just deprived you of the story. And you do not care about the facts. Because of course I explained it to you in an irrefutable way.”
However, as Conservative writer AG Hamilton first pointed out, ’60 minutes’ cut off a few minutes from the press conference, during which DeSantis explained what led to the deal with Publix.
‘First the first pharmacies that had [the vaccine] were CVS and Walgreens and they had a long-term care mission, and therefore they were to the long-term care facilities. “They got the vaccine in mid-December, they started going to the long-term care facilities in the third week of December to do LTCs,” DeSantis told Alfonsi. So that was their mission, it was very important and we trusted them to do it. With the start of January, we wanted to expand the distribution points.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA PARROTS WAY REPORT ’60 MINUTE ‘DESANTIS REPORT, PUBLIX WITHOUT COMMENT
“So yes, you had the provinces, you had a few drive-through sites, you had hospitals that did a lot, but we wanted to get it more in communities. That’s why we reached other retail pharmacies: Publix, Walmart, of course CVS and Walgreens had to complete the mission and we said we would use you as soon as you were done with it, “DeSantis continued.
He further said Publix is the ‘first one to raise their hand’ to say it is ready to distribute the vaccine. It rolled out the vaccine on a “trial basis” in three provinces, which was received with a “100% positive” feedback from seniors.
A CBS spokesman stood by the report and told Fox News, “As we always do for clarity, 60 MINUTES used the portion of the governor’s two – minute response that the correspondent addressed directly. ‘
This was not the only part of the report that raised eyebrows.
The story also apparently condemns DeSantis’ decision to take in the elderly instead of younger workers in the country. Alfonsi went even further by questioning DeSantis’ reasoning that the elderly were the most vulnerable to the virus.
“The onset of Florida started out pretty typical. The first doses were given to health care workers and nursing home residents in early December,” Alfonsi began. ‘But a few weeks later, Governor Ron DeSantis, who violated the CDC guidelines, announced that he would not vaccinate teachers and essential workers next time, but instead appoint seniors so that someone 65 and older could be considered. for the vaccine, the first in the country. to do it.”
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“DeSantis said seniors are at greatest risk,” she added, implying that it was an unsubstantiated allegation by the governor, rather than a response to data showing a higher death toll among older Americans.
Recent demographic data from the Centers for Disease Control show that approximately 80% of coronavirus deaths were among people aged 65 and over, and 95% of deaths were among those over 50.
The report further suggested that DeSantis was blamed for Florida’s 4.5 million seniors “competing” against each other to get the vaccine and that state health phone lines “failed” and websites “crashed.”
Conservative media critics have downplayed the ’60 Minutes’ report as a ‘hit’ and ‘ax’, but DeSantis has also received support from Democrats in Sunshine State.
“@ 60Minutes I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. @Publix was recommended by [Florida Division of Emergency Management – FDEM] and [Florida Health Department] as the other pharmacies were not ready to start. Period! Point! No one from the Governors’ Office suggested Publix. It’s just absolute malarkey, “JDE Moskowitz, director of the FDEM, responded Sunday night.
Dave Kerner, the Democratic mayor of Palm Beach County, went even further and accused ’60 minutes’ of ‘deliberately’ misleading the country.
CRITICISM BLAST ’60 MINUTES ‘FOR’ FALSE NARRATIVE ‘WHICH DESANTIS INVOLVED THE PUBLIX IN PAY-BEFORE-PLAY-SUBJECT SCHEME
“The reporting was not just based on bad information – it was intentionally false,” Kerner said in a statement Monday. “I know this because I offered to give my insight into the vaccination efforts of Palm Beach County and rejected ’60 minutes’. They know that the governor came to Palm Beach County and met me and the land administrator, and we asked to expand the state’s partnership with Publix to Palm Beach County … “
“We have been facing this pandemic for over a year. Our residents, like all Americans, are tired. And the media is making it worse. They want to divide us for cheap views and clicks. ’60 Minutes’ should be ashamed,” Kerner said. went on to add that the program leaves its perspective out of the story because it ‘displays their story.’
Kerner also thanks DeSantis for his work in helping Palm Beach County.
“Because of his efforts to work with Palm Beach County officials, more than 275,000 seniors in our country – who make up more than 75% of the total senior population – have been vaccinated. I am proud of how our provincial and state leaders have performed is on this important mission, and the results speak for themselves, “Kerner said.
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Meanwhile, Publix called the idea of receiving special access ‘absolutely false and offensive’.
“The irresponsible suggestion that there was a link between the contributions of the campaign to the DeSantis government and our willingness to join other pharmacies in support of the state’s distribution of vaccines is absolutely false and offensive,” he said. spokesman for Publix told Fox News. “We are proud of our pharmacy staff because they have so far administered more than 1.5 million doses of vaccine and worked with other retailers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia to do our part. to help our communities emerge from the pandemic. “
Fox News’ Brian Flood, Evie Fordham, contributed to this report.