DeSantis: Florida is where 'woke' goes to die
"Outnumbered" panelists discuss Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' push for veterans and former police officers to become teachers.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new press secretary, Bryan Griffin, roasted ABC News in a lengthy Twitter thread, detailing how the Disney-owned company fawned over President Biden signing a bill compared to critical coverage of a bill signing by the Republican governor.
The pugnacious approach to media outlets it deems unfriendly is something DeSantis' press team is "empowered" to do.
"Gov. DeSantis has empowered our team to hold media accountable for inaccurate and disproportionately critical coverage, and we will continue to do so under his leadership," Griffin told Fox News Digital when asked about the Twitter thread. He recently replaced Christina Pushaw, whose mutual antagonism with the Florida and national press frequently makes headlines, after she resigned to join DeSantis' re-election team.
In the thread titled, "A tale of two bill signings with mainstream media coverage (@ABC)," Griffin began by examining an ABC News article from Aug. 16 about Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
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The glowing ABC News article, headlined "Biden signs sweeping health, climate and tax bill, a major win for his domestic agenda," declared the "White House plans to celebrate the political victory again next month."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has feuded with ABC News’ parent company, Disney, over the Parental Rights in Education bill. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
DeSantis’ press secretary noted that "major win" was part of the headline, "celebratory" was in the subhead, and ABC News used the real bill name while crediting it for having different objectives. Griffin also pointed out that ABC News used images of "happy celebrations," including House Democrats giving Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a round of applause.
Griffin added that the article "quotes three bill supporters" while offering "no critics' perspectives," that it ended with six paragraphs of "talking points straight from the White House," and it praised Biden because he "interrupted his summer vacation" for the signing.
Griffin then pivoted to a March 28 article published by ABC News about another bill signing, but this time it was DeSantis’ Parental Rights in Education bill. DeSantis famously feuded with ABC News' parent, the Walt Disney Company, over the Parental Rights in Education bill that banned Florida school employees from giving classroom instruction on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" in kindergarten through third grade.
The ABC News article was headlined, "Florida governor signs controversial 'Don't Say Gay' bill into law," with a subhead that declared the "bill bans lessons on sexual orientation or gender identity in some grades."
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President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act received glowing coverage from ABC News. (Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Griffin highlighted that the adjective used in the headline was "controversial" instead of the positive treatment Biden’s bill received, and the subhead for DeSantis’ bill is "painfully obtuse" because it used the term "some grades" instead of making it clear only very young children were impacted.
ABC News also primarily referred to DeSantis’ bill as a "fake misnomer," as the "Don’t Say Gay" nickname that was coined by the left is misleading. DeSantis’ press secretary then pointed out that ABC News chose a less-than-celebratory image of the Florida governor, quoted three critics of the bill and nine paragraphs of perspective from the bill’s critics.
It doesn’t appear that DeSantis’ team is going to stop pointing out examples of what it considers media hypocrisy anytime soon.
ABC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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DeSantis' political foes have frequently ripped into his media team for their heated criticisms of the governor's press treatment, and mainstream outlets have not couched their language about its approach.
"Pushaw, who will serve as the campaign’s rapid response director, has received national attention for her aggressive style that is unorthodox for a taxpayer-funded press secretary. She used the position to regularly pick public fights with reporters on social media, amplify right-wing media outlets and conservative personalities and attack individuals who oppose or challenge DeSantis," Politico wrote after Pushaw's job change.
Earlier this week, Republican Carolina Amesty, who is running for State House in Florida’s District 45 and is a staunch supporter of DeSantis’ agenda, told Fox News Digital that the governor doesn’t get a fair shake from the media.
"The media is truly after conservative Republicans right now," Amesty said.