{"id":5123,"date":"2021-05-05T18:12:35","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T18:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=5123"},"modified":"2021-05-05T18:12:35","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T18:12:35","slug":"that-60-minutes-story-on-ron-desantis-and-floridas-vaccine-rollout-is-wildly-flawed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=5123","title":{"rendered":"That 60 Minutes Story on Ron DeSantis and Florida’s Vaccine Rollout Is Wildly Flawed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“A 60 Minutes <\/em>story<\/a> on Florida’s vaccine rollout accused Ron DeSantis, the state’s Republican governor, of making a corrupt deal with Publix to distribute the vaccine. CBS reporter Sharyn Alfonsi noted that the grocery chain donated $100,000 to DeSantis’ election campaign and suggested the lucrative vaccination contract was a “pay-to-play” scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s an accusation that doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny: For one thing, Publix\u2014like many large corporations\u2014gives money<\/a> to both Republicans and Democrats. But more importantly, the decision to have Publix coordinate vaccination was not even made by the governor’s office. According to Jared Moskowitz<\/a>, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, it was his offices that recommended Publix. Moskowitz, a Democrat, has said that Publix was the best store for the job, since it has more than 800 locations across the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, when Alfonsi cornered DeSantis at a press conference and asked him about Publix, he gave a lengthy explanation that largely undercut her claims. He pointed out, for instance, that it wasn’t <\/em>true that Publix got the vaccines first: CVS and Walgreens had already been contracted to coordinate vaccination for long-term care facilities.”  
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…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Remarkably, CBS cut this portion of DeSantis’ response. In fact, the 60 Minutes <\/em>story reduced his two-minute answer to just a few seconds.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This was not a case of a journalist condensing the essence of what a source told her: Alfonsi blatantly ignored the part of the governor’s statement that clashed with her narrative, and instead included a brief comment that made it sound like he became combative with her for no reason.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That 60 Minutes Story on Ron DeSantis and Florida’s Vaccine Rollout Is Wildly Flawed<\/a><\/blockquote>