As Hurricane Ian rages along the Gulf Coast, Twitter users chastised the online news magazine Politico for a Tuesday Twitter post that incorrectly claimed Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., had never faced the crisis of a hurricane striking his state while in office. A claim which was quickly determined to be objectively false.
DeSantis assumed office in January 2019, and Hurricane Sally reached the Florida panhandle in September 2020, wreaking havoc on the city of Pensacola in particular.
Politico shared a link to a story headlined “DeSantis faces the true test of any Florida governor,” with the following text, “Gov. Ron DeSantis spent his first term becoming one of the most influential Republicans in the country. But he still hasn’t faced one of the toughest challenges a Florida leader can encounter: a hurricane.”
Christina Pushaw, the rapid response director for the Ron DeSantis reelection campaign responded directly to the tweet.
Read that tweet again and ask yourself where you went wrong in life to end up doing this kind of "journalism."
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) September 27, 2022
“Florida has some of the world’s best emergency management leadership and personnel. Governor DeSantis and his team are doing everything possible to ensure our state is prepared. Sorry to disappoint liberal media activists who are constantly cheering for the destruction of Florida” Pushaw continued.
Setting aside the disgusting framing and premise of the article… This is false, @Mdixon55. Governor DeSantis did a briefing in Pinellas yesterday. He is getting ready for a briefing in Sarasota right now. https://t.co/l2flMfVJGJ pic.twitter.com/cXlvvbOfUg
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) September 27, 2022
Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Fla. also joined in the online chorus against Politico’s false claim:
“Fact Check: FALSE. Hurricane Sally hit Pensacola in September 2020, it was the most destructive hurricane to strike Pensacola in 16 years. Here’s @GovRonDeSantis at a briefing, committing to keep tolls lifted after our main bridge was destroyed. C’mon @politico” Andrade tweeted.
Fact Check: FALSE
Hurricane Sally hit Pensacola in September 2020, it was the most destructive hurricane to strike Pensacola in 16 years.
Here’s @GovRonDeSantis at a briefing, committing to keep tolls lifted after our main bridge was destroyed.
C’mon @politico https://t.co/yCBLSZftfm pic.twitter.com/lqqorbNN2g
— Alex Andrade (@RAlexAndradeFL) September 27, 2022
Politico modified the article later in the afternoon to include the qualifier that DeSantis had not encountered a “major” hurricane, and included a note at the conclusion that stated, “CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to add that Hurricane Sally affected the western part of the Florida Panhandle in 2020.”
Other political observers also took their own swings at the online publication:
Dems/media attack @GovRonDeSantis on COVID. He wins.
Dems/media attack DeSantis because he opposes grooming. He wins.
Dems/media attack DeSantis for doing … exactly what they do with illegal immigrants. He wins.
Dems/media: Crap, we're running out of … ooh, a hurricane! https://t.co/2Y5uF9fgjk
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) September 27, 2022
[READ MORE: Tucker Carlson Blasts Don Lemon, Democrats for Politicized Coverage of Hurricane Ian]
