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Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out at The Associated Press for what he described as a “partisan hit piece” about his state’s promotion of coronavirus treatment during an appearance on “Hannity”.
“Well, that was clearly a partisan hit. They’re trying to act like it’s not an effective treatment – it was a weird theory to increase the Regeneron share price, but as you know Sean , President Trump bought out all of Regeneron last year, so it has already been paid for by the federal government. When we come down from Florida to give to patients, there is no charge for it. no financial incentive at all. All we’re trying to do is help people, “DeSantis told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday night.
The feud between DeSantis and the AP began last week when the news agency published a story that appeared to imply DeSantis was promoting Regeneron’s COVID antibody treatment because a Chicago-based hedge fund donated. to a pro-DeSantis political committee also owns shares in the company. The title of the widely circulated story read, “DeSantis Top Donor Invests in Promoting COVID Drugs Governor.”
DESANTIS FLAMES THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IN A LETTER ON THE HISTORY OF COVID DRUGS “SMEAR”: “BOTCHE AND DISCREDITED”
Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’ press secretary, then attacked the AP on Twitter as well as AP reporter Brendan Farrington, who is the author of the story. This prompted new AP CEO Daisy Veerasingham to send a letter to DeSantis accusing her assistant of “harassing behavior” and activating an “online mob” against Farrington. DeSantis retaliated with a letter from him slamming the “sloppy and discredited” defamation against him.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed the Associated Press on Monday.
(Getty Images)
The governor insisted that Regeneron had been “underused” for the past nine months and said if more COVID patients had known about monoclonal antibody treatment, “many of them would not have no need to go to the hospital “.
He then bragged about the deployment of the Regeneron centers his administration has established statewide, telling Hannity “it has an impact on keeping people out of hospital.”
DESANTIS RICH PRESS SECRETARY AFTER ASSOCIATED PRESS ACCUSED HER OF “HARASSMENT” OF JOURNALIST
“Now what the PA has done by trying to create a fake narrative is some people may believe the narrative and then think it’s not a viable treatment for them, so if they get infected, they won’t go looking for a monoclonal antibody and that will end up increasing their risk of hospitalization, “DeSantis said.” So the PA knew what they were doing, they wanted to hit me politically and the consequence is that there are likely to be people who refuse lifesaving treatment. And then they have the temerity to act like they’re the victim when they’ve been called out on their coin. ”
“Sean, the days when corporate media could smear people with impunity and Conservatives do nothing – those days are gone. I can tell you that in Florida we fight with the truth and we will hold you accountable when you peddle false partisan stories, ”added DeSantis.
The AP did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment, but a spokesperson previously said the outlet was sticking to its story.
AP STORY ON DESANTIS PROMOTION OF A CRITICALLY EFFECTIVE COVID DRUG AS AN ATTEMPT TO USE
“The Associated Press has no political opponents. We report on people in power, regardless of their political affiliation,” the spokesperson told Fox News. “The problem here is not refoulement. It is harassment. An official whose job it is to work with the press encouraged a campaign of harassment against our journalist, and that is unacceptable.”
The history of the AP recognized that the drug is very effective and was also touted by the Biden administration. The article also stated that donor DeSantis’ hedge fund, Citadel, had a smaller stake in Regeneron than BlackRock, which donated more to Democrats, and that Citadel’s investment in Regeneron “represents a tiny fraction of its 39 billion dollars in investments “.
Further, the article acknowledged that it was “not unusual for hedge funds to have a wide range of investments,” but still published the article with the damaging framework.
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Critics lashed out at the AP, with many likening the story to the “hit piece” that CBS News “60 Minutes” aired in April, suggesting DeSantis was involved in a “pay-for” program. -play “involving his administration giving the first access to the COVID vaccine to the Publix grocery chain following a contribution to his campaign.
Fox News’ David Rutz and Brian Flood contributed to this report.
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