'Where does DeSantis get his apology?' Governor's office calls out media's shift in COVID coverage
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been at the forefront of leading efforts to prohibit COVID-19 restrictions
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gov. Ron DeSantis’, R-Fla., office had harsh words for the mainstream media’s shift in reporting what they referred to as "forbidden facts" on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rapid response director Christina Pushaw penned a Twitter thread on Tuesday on a New York Times opinion piece admitting "The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned?"
"Today, the New York Times published a Forbidden Fact. It only took them THREE YEARS. Now, where does @GovRonDeSantis get his apology?" Pushaw tweeted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She added, "Ah well, the conclusion of the NY Times article answers my question" along with a screengrab of a paragraph that highlighted the quote, "But ‘do something’ is not science, and it shouldn’t have been public policy," and concluded, "They may never get the apology they deserve, but vindication ought to be enough."
A local reporter was caught on a hot mic saying her job was to make Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis "uncomfortable." (Screenshot/First Coast News)
Press secretary Bryan Griffin and deputy press secretary Jeremy Redfern retweeted her comments with Redfern adding, "Taylor Lorenz reeling right now."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, Griffin further decried the media for waiting nearly three years into the pandemic to acknowledge different perspectives.
"Florida leads, and three years later the media and medical establishment reluctantly follow. Thanks to Governor DeSantis, Florida came to this conclusion about mask mandates early in the pandemic, and never allowed vaccine mandates or passports to have a foothold. If the media are now acknowledging the errors of their own narrative, it is obvious that they do so reluctantly," Griffin told Fox News.
He continued, "In Florida, we will not let the media or the biomedical security state have the chance to downplay their harms and do this to the public again."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Griffin elaborated that DeSantis has already announced efforts to prohibit mask mandates and vaccine passports as well as provide protections for unvaccinated citizens and medical professionals who disagree with the "biomedical security state."
"When the world lost its mind, Florida was a refuge of sanity, serving strongly as freedom's linchpin," DeSantis told "Unfiltered with Dan Bongino." "These measures will ensure Florida remains this way and will provide landmark protections for free speech for medical practitioners."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis previously announced efforts to restrict mask and vaccine mandates in his state. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
DeSantis has been one of the most prominent Republican figures in opposition to mask and vaccine mandates as scientific studies began showing their lack of efficacy. Throughout the course of the pandemic, however, DeSantis faced intense media backlash for lifting mask and vaccine restrictions sooner than pundits felt appropriate.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Despite this, more media outlets and figures have begun acknowledging that certain coronavirus restrictions were likely pointless as Democratic figures began lifting mandates.
The Times faced mixed reactions after columnist Bret Stephens’ op-ed on the mask mandates quoted Oxford epidemiologist Tom Jefferson’s study revealing no proof that masks, whether cloth masks or N-95 masks, have any effect on reducing the spread of the coronavirus.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There is just no evidence that [masks] make any difference," Jefferson was quoted as saying. "Full stop."
In January, CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen conceded in a Washington Post column that the U.S. has been "overcounting" the deaths and hospitalizations caused solely by the coronavirus. Wen later reiterated her argument on CNN.
More recently, NBC News published a study last Thursday that revealed natural immunity acquired from a previous COVID-19 infection provides as strong protection against severe illness as two doses of an mRNA vaccine. This came over a year after DeSantis originally blasted the Biden administration for ignoring natural immunity as a factor.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gov. Ron DeSantis has been attacked by mainstream media outlets for lifting vaccine and mask mandates in Florida. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Pushaw also called out NBC News for providing no comment or apology regarding DeSantis or Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo previously speaking out on natural immunity in their report.
"Another person who deserves an apology is @FLSurgeonGen. Everything he has said that was so ‘controversial’ at the time has been FULLY vindicated, and I have no doubt that what he’s saying now will also be," Pushaw tweeted.