'60 Minutes' Defends Report Drawing Bipartisan Backlash: 'It was an Obvious Hit Job' cbn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cbn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“I think it helps him tremendously for two reasons,” said Republican strategist Michael McKenna. “First, it shows that he is a target of the media crowd, which legitimizes him among all sorts of people. CBS only sends ‘60 Minutes’ to hit jobs either on the weak or on people whom they fear. The governor is in the second category.”
Instead of dismissing or ignoring the story, Mr. DeSantis has tackled it head-on, calling the segment “horse manure” and “a lie” while blasting the network as “smear merchants” running a “fake narrative.”
“Second, the whole episode has shown everyone that he has a considerable amount of grit, which may be the single most important ingredient in political success at this level,” said Mr. McKenna, a columnist for The Washington Times and former Trump White House official.
Jeff Vasilinda becomes the Vasilinda Family’s first published author!
April 7th, 2021 by Mike Vasilinda
Governor Ron DeSantis is pushing back against suggestions made in a 60 Minutes, which faulted the state’s vaccine roll out and asked if Publix got a sweetheart deal because of campaign contributions.
The language used by the Governor Wednesday could be a forerunner to legal action.
The 60 Minutes piece began by saying that they watched, “Florida’s vaccine rollout deteriorate into a virtual free for all”.
It then went on to ask about a $100,000 given by Publix, to the ‘Friends of Ron DeSantis’ political action committee.
Fox News Outnumbered panel weighs in on CBS defending the 60 Minutes report on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that caused backlash by state Democrats.
PolitiFact acknowledged Wednesday that CBS News could be guilty of deceptively editing remarks by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in a controversial 60 Minutes report, but stopped short of stating it as fact.
The Sunday newsmagazine show has received intense backlash from conservatives over its report accusing DeSantis of taking part in a pay-for-play scheme by granting grocery store chain Publix coronavirus vaccine distribution rights after the company made a $100,000 contribution to his campaign.
In a heated exchange that aired on Sunday, DeSantis was confronted with the allegation by 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.
…CNN’s media reporters, normally reliable critics of all things Republican, sound skeptical of it.
The story, by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, suggested there was a possible link between the [$100,000] donation [by Publix to DeSantis] and the state’s partnership with Publix stores for vaccine distribution a serious issue of foul play, if true.
But, beyond spotlighting the public finance records, “60 Minutes” never offered any substantive evidence to support the significant assertion and link the donation with the partnership.
“60 Minutes” doesn’t care. They’re standing by their story or at least their much-criticized redaction of DeSantis’s answer when he was asked by a CBS reporter to explain himself. Via Mediaite: