The story, by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, suggested that there was a possible link between the donation and the state’s partnership with Publix stores for the distribution of vaccines – a serious problem of foul play, if true.
But, apart from putting the public finance records in the spotlight, ’60 Minutes’ never provided substantial evidence to support the significant allegation and link the donation to the partnership.
After the report aired, the Democratic director of the Florida Emergency Management Division and the mayor of Palm Beach County’s Democratic county both responded publicly, saying no one from DeSantis’ office would propose a partnership with Publix.
In a Sunday night tweet aimed at ’60 minutes ‘, Jared Moskowitz, director of the Emergency Management Division in Florida, wrote:’ I have said it before and I will say it again. [Publix] was recommended by [Florida Division of Emergency Management] and [Florida Department of Public Health]. Period! Point!”
“No one from the Governors’ Office suggested Publix,” Moskowitz added. “This is absolutely malarkey.”
Palm Beach Mayor Dave Kerner offered a similar sentiment in a statement Monday.
“I watched the 60-minute segment in Palm Beach County last night and feel compelled to issue this statement,” Kerner said.
Kerner accuses ’60 minutes ‘of reporting’ intentionally false ‘information and says the program knows that DeSantis met with him and that the province was the institution to ask’ to expand the state’s partnership with Publix . ‘
Publix also issued a statement criticizing the allegation, but the supermarket chain did not name ’60 minutes’.
“The irresponsible suggestion that there is a link between contributions to Governor DeSantis and our willingness to join other pharmacies in support of the state’s distribution of vaccines is absolutely false and offensive,” Publix said Monday.
In a statement Monday afternoon, DeSantis’ office said: “Florida had a partnership with Publix because they were ready to administer the vaccine in their pharmacies within days, while other pharmacies were not yet ready.”
“Not exploiting this partnership with Publix as soon as possible would have been malpractice,” the governor’s office added, “especially since the state rushed to vaccinate as many people as possible.”
A ’60 Minutes’ spokesman defends the story that the newspaper broadcast.
In a brief statement, the spokesperson specifically focused on criticism ’60 minutes’ because he did not broadcast part of a meeting DeSantis had with Alfonsi during a press conference in which he pointed out to her that CVS and Walgreens – in terms of a federal program – was not. the first pharmacies in the state to distribute vaccines.
“As we always do for the sake of clarity, 60 minutes made use of the portion of the Governor’s answer of more than 2 minutes that was addressed directly to the question of the correspondent,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman also said the program had twice asked for an actual interview with DeSantis, but that he refused.