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The story, by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, suggested there was a possible link between the donation and the state’s partnership with Publix stores for vaccine distribution – a serious problem of foul play, if it is. is right.
But, beyond shedding light on public finance records, “60 Minutes” never offered substantial evidence to support the meaningful claim and link the donation to the partnership.
After the report was released, the Democratic Director of the Florida Emergency Management Division and the Democratic County Mayor of Palm Beach County both responded publicly, saying the partnership with Publix had not been suggested by anyone from within. DeSantis office.
In a Sunday night tweet to “60 Minutes,” Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, wrote, “I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. [Publix] was recommended by [Florida Division of Emergency Management] and [Florida Department of Public Health]. Period! Complete stop! “
“No one from the board of governors suggested Publix,” Moskowitz added. “He’s just an absolute malarkey.”
Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner expressed a similar sentiment in a statement Monday.
“I watched the 60-minute segment on Palm Beach County last night and feel compelled to release this statement,” Kerner said.
Kerner accused “60 Minutes” of reporting “intentionally false” information, saying the program knew DeSantis had met him and that the county had been the entity to ask “to extend the state’s partnership with Publix. “.
Publix also issued a statement criticizing the claim, but the supermarket chain did not mention “60 minutes” by name.
“The irresponsible suggestion that there was a link between the campaign contributions made to Governor DeSantis and our willingness to join other pharmacies in supporting the state’s vaccine distribution efforts is absolutely false and offensive,” said Publix Monday.
In a Monday afternoon statement, the DeSantis office said, “Florida partnered with Publix because it was ready to deliver the vaccine to its pharmacies within days, while other pharmacies were not. not ready. “
“Not using this partnership with Publix as soon as possible would have been professional misconduct,” added the governor’s office, “especially as the state was rushing to vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.” .
A spokesperson for “60 Minutes” defended the story broadcast by the news magazine.
In a brief statement, the spokesperson focused specifically on the criticisms of “60 Minutes” received for not broadcasting part of the meeting DeSantis had with Alfonsi at a press conference in which he told him. noted that CVS and Walgreens – under a federal program – were the first pharmacies in the state to distribute vaccines.
“As we always do for clarity, 60 Minutes used the portion of the governor’s longer than 2 minute response that directly answered the correspondent’s question,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also said the program twice requested an actual interview with DeSantis, but declined.
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