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Did “60 Minutes” purposely attempt to derail DeSantis’ 2022 reelection bid?

Most critically-thinking individuals have long surmised that the mainstream media can no longer report objectively any story involving a conservative.

Especially if that conservative is a popular and dynamic governor like Florida’s Ron DeSantis, as evident by the hit-piece orchestrated by CBS News’ “60 Minutes, in which reporter Sharyn Alfonsi during a news conference aggressively accused the Governor of rewarding Publix after the Governor allegedly received a sizable campaign donation from the grocery chain.

Alfonsi suggested that Publix was rewarded with a contract by the Governor in providing COVID vaccines to Publix customers. However what “60 Minutes” failed to mention was that the Governor sought guidance from prominent state Democrats regarding a distribution strategy before tagging Publix, in which all agreed that the popular grocery chain with over 800 stores within the state would be ideal distribution facilities, moreover maximizing the state’s Herculean effort in vaccinating all of its citizens seeking the vaccine.

The slanderous hit piece which aired on Sunday was quickly condemned by both Democrats and Republicans alike.

On Monday Democrat Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner, lambasted CBS for recklessly disregarding the facts, and for purposely editing out the Governor’s detailed rebuttal to Alfonsi’s unfounded allegations.

In a condemnatory statement the mayor took aim at the network stating; “The reporting was not just based on bad information – it was intentionally false.”

Kerner continued; “I know this because I offered to provide my insight into Palm Beach County’s vaccination efforts and ’60 Minutes’ declined. They know that the governor came to Palm Beach County and met with me and the county administrator and we asked to expand the state’s partnership with Publix to Palm Beach County… ‘60 Minutes’ should be ashamed.”

The backlash continued on Tuesday with both moderate and conservative pundits taking to the airwaves condemning “60 Minutes” for refusing to apologize.

“Fox & Friends” invited DeSantis to weigh in on the growing media scandal.

“All [CBS] were looking to do was a hit job on me to try to smear me just because I’m in the other party than them. That’s the only reason,” DeSantis said. “This is partisan corporate media and I think at this point these people like this reporter they’re basically ambulance chasers with a microphone. They are not trustworthy. They lie. We know they’re lying, they know that we know that they’re lying and yet they lie and they lie and they lie.”

DeSantis is obviously correct, in that the more influence a proponent conservative has, the more the progressive media will attempt to slander that individual.

The hit piece by “60 Minutes” is an attempt to muddy up the popular governor before his reelection bid in 2022, moreover, DeSantis’ unwavering support of President Trump puts him in a unique position for 2024, if the former president decides not to seek reelection.

That scenario was also echoed by Cornell Law School professor and media critic William A. Jacobson.

“The mainstream liberal media will tell us who they fear, and they fear Ron DeSantis for the 2024 presidential election. So the attempt to create a negative DeSantis narrative is starting early, and will be done often. The narrative is that DeSantis was incompetent and played partisan politics in handling COVID and the vaccine distribution. This narrative is the opposite of reality, as even some Democrat politicians coming to DeSantis’ defense against the ‘60 Minutes’ story shows,” Jacobson told Fox News.

However “60 Minutes” indeed the entire progressive media may be playing a losing hand, in that trust within the press has plummeted to a historic low as evident in a recent Axios poll.

According to data from Edelman’s annual trust barometer shared exclusively with Axios. “For the first time ever, fewer than half of all Americans have trust in traditional media.” Moreover trust in social media has also hit an all-time low with just 27% of respondents having a positive impression of social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The data also shows that a staggering 56% of Americans agree with the statement that “Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.”

Further 58% think that “most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public.”

Perhaps even more telling Edelman re-polled Americans after the 2020 presidential election and found those figures had deteriorated even further, with just 57% of Democrats trusting the media and only 18% of Republicans.

Contrast those dismal numbers with a recent Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy survey showing that 53% of Florida residents approve of DeSantis’ performance as governor, while just 12% disapprove.

Thus is it any wonder why the mainstream media is attempting to sabotage DeSantis before he becomes a force to be reckoned with.

Moreover conservatives and in particular Republicans need to be reminded again not to allow the egregious actions by the press against President Trump to once again vilify and marginalize Governor DeSantis or any other potential 2024 presidential hopeful.

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