A CNN reporter was so focused on making Ron DeSantis look bad that she didn’t even bother to focus on the truth. Luckily, the Florida governor was quick to school her on the facts so that the record could be set straight.
As Florida is recovering from the devastating hurricane Ian and the media are busy trying to build a “DeSantis’ Katrina” narrative. Naturally, the particular “Katrina” is the kind that causes blame to be placed on Governors, not the president, even though this wasn’t the case with George W. Bush. What a convenient option, right?
However, the debate revolves around Lee County, FL, in which an evacuation order was issued in the final 48 hours prior to the storm striking. We’ll come to that later. There was a plausible reason behind that and here’s a glimpse of the tone of voice being uttered by the media.
The objective view is that 35 deaths from the Category 4 hurricane aren’t “massive.” I don’t claim that to minimize the losses of any kind, but I do want to highlight that the media is seeking to create an agenda instead of providing complete and accurate facts. Enter CNN reporter Nadia Romero and her interview with DeSantis during Jim Acosta’s garbage of a cable news program.
Romero asked, “Do you stand behind Lee County’s decision to not have that mandatory evacuation until the day before the storm?”
DeSantis was prepared. “Well, did you, where was your industry stationed when the storm hit? Where you guys in Lee County? No, you were in Tampa. So they were following the weather track and they had to make decisions based on that. But you know, 72 hours, they weren’t even in the cone, 48 hours they were on the periphery, so you gotta make the decisions as best you can.”
He goes on and on discussing the fact that Lee County had shelters open and ready for use, but there were some who simply didn’t like the idea of leaving home due to the previous projections, predictions that were disseminated widely by news channels such as CNN.
Whatever the case, the bigger picture adds to the “late evacuation order” narrative more absurd. The storm was to strike Tampa in the north, just far north of Lee County, and curve upwards towards central Florida. The affected areas were home to millions of residents who needed to evacuate. The road space is limited. You cannot instruct a whole state to get off the road, especially if you’re dealing with the peninsula.
In the event that the storm didn’t appear to affect Lee County, it made no sense to evacuate the area as there was no need for them to leave. A move to the north wouldn’t have made sense in the context of the uncertainty cone, in addition, Lee County was already located south of the predicted landfall.
The CNN reporter was once again trying to sell her false narrative with the claim that “some of their neighboring counties, though, did have mandatory evacuations before Tuesday.”
Well, yes. It’s because these “neighboring counties,” such as Sarasota County, were further north than Lee County and much closer to Tampa and where the storm was predicted to take place (again from outlets like CNN). County boundaries do not sit in isolation from one another. A county that is doing something will not necessarily determine the next county that follows Otherwise, the entire state would have been wiped out in a way that’s impossible to do.
DeSantis re-emerged to dispel the misinformation by presenting the facts of the situation and saying that second-guessing the sudden turn of a hurricane is absurd. It’s true, of course. Up until Tuesday, the storm was expected to strike up to 150 miles farther north. Weather can be unpredictable, and there is never a perfect solution, except for random luck. The majority of the time, Florida does an excellent job in evacuating people and has performed well since returning power and helping those in need.
The media’s insistence on trying to damage DeSantis makes him appear more mature and competent. Perhaps in the future, reporters will discover that they’re not going to take him for a ride. He is a pro and is always on the lookout. That’s why they have such a fear of him.
