FL Governor Lashes Out At The Media

FL Governor Ron DeSantis

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis lashed out at the press outside the White House when asked about his commitment to transparency on the coronavirus after the official running his state’s Covid-19 dashboard was abruptly fired on Tuesday, Mediaite reports.

Standing alongside Vice President Mike Pence, DeSantis dismissed concerns that he might be trying to downplay the coronavirus’ ongoing spread in his state.

Our data is available, our date is transparent. In fact, Dr. [Deborah] Birx has talked multiple times about Florida has the absolute best data,” DeSantis emphasized. “So any insinuation otherwise is just typical, partisan narrative trying to be spun.”

'She's not a data scientist. She's somebody that's got a degree in journalism, communication & geography.'

Gov. DeSantis, asked again about the firing of Rebekah Jones, says she was putting data on the portal that scientists didn't believe was valid.https://t.co/jTzJmKk8X0 pic.twitter.com/tlUaocPJkZ

— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) May 20, 2020

According to a report from WFLA-TV in Tampa Bay, the woman who had been managing the state’s official Covid-19 dashboard, Rebekah Jones, was abruptly fired from her job on Tuesday. She claims she was let go because she was being too transparent. Notably, the Covid Tracking Project, up through May 20, has given the state’s data quality a grade of A+.

“You got a lot of people in your profession who waxed poetically for weeks and weeks about how Florida was going to be just like New York,” DeSantis continued wagging his finger at the assembled reporters. “Wait two weeks, Florida’s going to be next. Just like Italy, wait two weeks. Well, hell we’re eight weeks away from that and it hasn’t happened.”

.@GovRonDeSantis rips media to their faces after they constantly predicted doom if he reopened his state and let people get back to work.pic.twitter.com/FODvUbJ2ah

— The First (@TheFirstonTV) May 20, 2020

DeSantis then went to favorably compare his state’s lower death rate to the Acela corridor of states from Washington, D.C. to Boston, the Midwest, and the rest of the Southeast. An analysis of the state’s most current data shows Florida has had roughly 2,100 deaths related to Covid-19 so far, far fewer than New York. But it also shows a steady rate of new coronavirus cases over the last month, whereas New York has seen a rapid decline in new diagnosed cases.