CBS stands by widely criticized '60 Minutes' report on Ron DeSantis
Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich explains why the '60 Minutes' report on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been 'proven untrue.'
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo accused Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R., of holding the country "hostage" because of how he's handled the COVID-19 pandemic.
DeSantis signed an executive order on Friday to make mask-wearing optional in the state's public schools, perhaps an unsurprising move for those who have been following the governor's leadership on schools during the pandemic. In-person learning in Florida has been in place since October 2020.
His order came on the heels of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new guidance for K-12 schools recommending universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff and students, regardless of whether they've received the COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been shown to be highly effective against the virus, and to a varying degree against the new delta variant.
Cuomo, one of CNN's liberal anchors, suggested that DeSantis' behavior is holding the U.S. back from beating the pandemic once and for all.
"The question becomes as a policy perspective, is how long do you allow the majority of this country, Republicans, Democrats, independents, south, north, the majority of every group and demographic we have, have gotten vaccinated, how long do you allow them to be held hostage in states, let's say, like Florida, where you have the governor saying, 'yeah, I know it's breaking out, I'm going the other way, don't Fauci my Florida, no mask mandates, I'll let the parents decide,'" Cuomo asked on "Cuomo Prime Time" during his interview with Adm. Brett Giroir Friday night. "Where is that messaging going to get you?"
CNN'S CHRIS CUOMO PUMMELED AFTER SAYING FLORIDA GOV. DESANTIS ‘MISHANDLED’ PANDEMIC
New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz said that considering Cuomo broke quarantine last year, the CNN anchor is likely not the best authority to be aiming sling shots at the Sunshine State governor. Cuomo infamously emerged from his basement on CNN last April, claiming it was his "official reentry" to the outside world since getting COVID, but later admitted that he had been involved in an altercation outside of his second property, the one in which he had not been quarantining.
"Chris Cuomo broke quarantine while actually sick with COVID, not caring who else he infected," Markowicz told Fox News Digital.
Markowicz added that the anchor's own brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has overseen a seemingly worse COVID outbreak when comparing state populations.
"His brother’s state has 2 million fewer people than Florida but 15,000 more COVID deaths all while NY kept schools closed and small businesses crumbled."
"Perhaps the Cuomos should take a break from telling the rest of us how we should be handling COVID," she added.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha agreed that Cuomo should "recuse himself" from criticizing DeSantis' leadership not only because he broke quarantine and that New York struggled heavily under COVID under Gov. Cuomo, but also because of reports the governor and his family benefitted by gaining early access to COVID testing before other New Yorkers.
"Chris Cuomo should recuse himself from commenting on any other governor’s actions as it pertains to COVID," Concha told Fox News Digital. "This is the same guy who got testing before anyone in New York could in the early stage of the pandemic, thanks to his brother. The same guy who broke his own quarantine while he was shedding the virus. A police report was even filed against him after a verbal confrontation with a man in his sixties."
On top of those scandals, Concha noted, is the string of sexual harassment allegations against the New York governor. Cuomo said he apologized if he made anyone "uncomfortable," but denied any wrongdoing and dismissed calls for his resignation.
"And Ron DeSantis hasn’t been accused of sexual harassment by multiple staffers, as Gov. Cuomo has. Chris Cuomo proceeded to advise him on how to beat those allegations, proving he’s not an anchor, but an activist," Concha added. "Take his opinion with a fraction of a grain of salt."
CHRIS CUOMO RETURNS TO CNN SHOW, STAYS SILENT ON PRIORITY TESTING SCANDAL THAT IMPLICATES HIM
Receipts show that CNN's Cuomo has targeted DeSantis for over a year. Last July, he publicly questioned why then-Vice President Mike Pence had praised DeSantis and accused the governor of having "mishandled" the pandemic.
The media appeared to be in agreement that DeSantis deserved scorn last year for refusing to follow the lead of his liberal counterparts in locking down their states for months at a time during the pandemic. Perhaps the most infamous example of the media's special contempt for him was when CBS' "60 Minutes" aired a misleading segment in April suggesting the governor gave the Publix grocery store chain preferable treatment to offer the coronavirus vaccine based on its donations to his PAC.
"These are corporate media operatives…They had a political mission to smear me, they thought that they could do it, drive by, and just go on to the next target," DeSantis said in response on "Fox & Friends. "But I have a platform, I have the ability to fight back. We have done that, we’re going to continue to do that."
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Critics contend that the media is zeroing in on Gov. DeSantis because he's considered a front-runner in the 2024 presidential election, some calling the new phenomenon "DeSantis Derangement Syndrome."
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