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Mainstream media outlets and liberal pundits are parroting CBS News' "60 Minutes" widely panned report that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R., gave the Publix grocery store chain preferable treatment to offer the coronavirus vaccine based on its donations to his PAC.
The "60 Minutes" report has drawn criticism from Democratic state officials and conservative media members alike, but the criticism has been ignored when covered by other outlets.
Director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management Jared Moskowitz, who is a Democrat, took to Twitter to blast the notion that DeSantis gave special access to Publix, calling it "absolute malarkey."
Axios published a report, "Florida governor clashes with ‘60 Minutes’ over COVID vaccine rollout," and cited "60 Minutes" without mentioning the massive backlash the segment has recieved or Moskowitz’s denial. The Drudge Report had a massive headline declaring DeSantis had been "accused of pay for play, for much of Monday morning that linked to the Axios story.
"60 Minutes" was also accused of deceptively editing a heated exchange between one of its correspondents and Gov. DeSantis that didn’t include the governor’s entire response to a question about the alleged scheme.
The Hill reported that DeSantis "sharply shot down" the report but failed to mention that "60 Minutes" was accused of deceptively editing the exchange to make the conversation fit its narrative. The Hill didn’t mention Moskowitz's denial, either.
Business Insider also echoed the "60 Minutes" report without noting backlash or Moskowitz’s denial, but did managed to quote a county commissioner who called speculation implied by CBS News "absolutely false and offensive." The Huffington Post published a similar report without mentioning much of the criticism surrounding the "60 Minutes" segment.
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, the little brother of embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, decided to chime in, too, and tweeted the "60 Minutes" clip that has been accused of sneaky editing.
"We need to have fair exchange with those in power," Cuomo wrote.
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MSNBC’s Joy Reid shared the same misleading clip and claimed it was "quite a moment" and that DeSantis "seemed unnerved."
Publix called the notion that it received special access "absolutely false and offensive."
"The irresponsible suggestion that there was a connection between campaign contributions made to Governor DeSantis and our willingness to join other pharmacies in support of the state's vaccine distribution efforts is absolutely false and offensive. We are proud of our pharmacy associates for administering more than 1.5 million doses of vaccine to date and for joining other retailers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia to do our part to help our communities emerge from the pandemic," a Publix spokesperson told Fox News.
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