Emails Reflect ’60 Minutes’ Knowingly Omitted Key Information on DeSantis’ Administration

The deep hole “60 Minutes” has been digging regarding the smear job they did this past Sunday on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has expanded. What the show should have done and what they continue to do are two very different things. The right course of action would have been to say “Sorry, we were mistaken,” even though we all know it wasn’t a “mistake.”

Instead, and as I reported earlier, they’ve doubled down and stood by their claims.

That’s antagonizing the parties involved other than DeSantis including Publix and the two Democratic politicians who have debunked “60 Minutes” claims.

New developments in the situation now show emails between “60 Minutes” and Governor DeSantis’ office indicating just how much of a hit piece this portion of the show actually was. These pieces of correspondence suggest that while they asked for responses, they weren’t really interested in actually presenting the Florida governor’s answers, but rather went with the narrative they already selected.

According to Fox News, the show sent questions to DeSantis’ office on March 31, asking for responses by the next day at 5 p.m. including:

“How did the state determine that seniors were at greater risk” to the coronavirus “than other groups,” a response to claims from “sources” who say the vaccine rollout “favored wealthier communities” while “African American and Hispanic residents” were “not getting vaccinated as quickly” as white people.

DeSantis’ communications staffer Meredith Beatrice also asked that they interview State Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz who could explain the entire thing to them as well as Palm Beach Mayor David Kerner. Both gentlemen are Democrats who have been heavily involved in the vaccination rollout. “60 Minutes” producer Zill de Granados said they asked Moskowitz for an interview repeatedly but he turned them down. She also claimed Kerner was not responsive to inquiries.

Granados told Beatrice on Thursday they couldn’t interview the two people anyway because the “deadline has passed” despite the fact that they show wasn’t going on until Sunday. “As you may know, the Covid pandemic makes our interview protocol much more complicated and time-consuming due to new distancing and testing requirements for correspondents and camera crews.”

However, “60 Minutes” managed to remotely interview Florida State Representative Omari Hardy who is a staunch critic of Governor DeSantis.

The CBS mainstay indicated they spoke to Moskowitz and “approved his perspective.” “We have included the information he provided on background as it pertains to this story.” But when asked by Fox if he thought they “appreciated his perspective” on the vaccine rollout, Moskowitz said if so where did they include that perspective in their piece?

“Did you see the perspective that the person in charge of the Covid response told them how Publix was selected in their agency and that the contribution story was garbage?

“They ran with pay to play, when I told them it was done by my agency and why and how. Did you see that perspective?” Moskowitz added.

The lack of journalistic integrity is appalling. DeSantis stated his office submitted answers to all of the questions the show asked by Friday. However, those responses were not included in the report on the show. Beatrice sent a blistering email on Friday demanding an explanation as to why they refused to interview Moskowitz and Kerner as well as the Florida Lottery Secretary John Davis.

“This lack of professionalism — it’s clear you are more interested in pushing a baseless partisan narrative than in reporting the facts on Florida’s successful vaccine distribution effort — from your team on this matter is greatly concerning,” Beatrice told the producers.

Both Moskowitz and Kerner made it clear that “60 Minutes” were less than straight about their interactions. Moskowitz said he’d told them at great length their claims were bull and Kerner said he offered to talk with them but they declined.

I did speak with @60Minutes. Never said I didn’t. They were very nice, but I told them that the @publix story was “bullshit”. Walked them through the whole process.The fact that I didn’t sit down on “camera” because I am responding to a 100 year emergency doesn’t change the truth https://t.co/G7QNsV42V5

— Jared Moskowitz (@JaredEMoskowitz) April 6, 2021

https://twitter.com/alexsalvinews/status/1379137171735609354?s=20

“60 Minutes” used to be a show filled with passionate, dedicated, and professional journalists that sought truth and shared it with their viewers. Sadly, the integrity required for journalists is seriously lacking. This farce is proof.

The longer this goes on the worse it seems to get. This is round 3 and it keeps getting worse for what was once a sterling example of outstanding and integral journalism by journalists with those same attributes. Just own it.

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