In a heated back and forth during a Monday press conference about Florida’s rollout of the coronavirus vaccines, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis was forced to put an obnoxious CNN correspondent in their place after they tried to filibuster and talk down to him. The liberal network actually took some time at the end of Erin Burnett OutFront to bellyache about the exchange.
The video clip CNN showed their viewers wasn’t the smear of DeSantis they hoped it was because the clip started with correspondent Rosa Flores asking her question and trying to draw out her time:
ROSA FLORES: Governor, what has gone wrong with the roll-out of the vaccine, that we’ve seen phone lines jammed, websites crash—
GOV. RON DESANTIS: It’s a lot of demand. I mean, I think at the end of the day--
FLORES: Excuse me, if I can finish my question.
“Excuse me. Excuse me. You just said what's gone wrong. So, I’m answering the question,” the Governor shot back as Flores wanted to shout over him and filibuster.
A contentious back and forth flared up as Flores demanded DeSantis let her add unnecessary fluff to her question. DeSantis retorted by noting that she basically wanted to squeeze in multiple questions when other reporters had asked one each.
Instead of just asking the rest of her question, Flores insisted that she get to start from the beginning:
FLORES: I did not. My full question is: What went wrong with the roll out of the vaccine when we’ve seen phone lines jammed, websites crash--
DESANTIS: So, you’re repeating your question.
FLORES: To complete it for you, Governor. We’ve seen websites crash and also senior citizens waiting overnight for the vaccine.
From there, DeSantis seemed like he wanted to have a conversation about it and asked Flores if she did her job as a journalist and investigate why certain counties had long lines and website crashes. Her response was to be condescending:
DESANTIS: Why was -- Like in Lee [County], why did that happen? Did you investigate why?
FLORES: That’s my question to you, Governor. You’re the governor of the state. I’m not the governor of the state.
DESANTIS: Okay, but you didn't investigate why? Like in Lee, why was there a big line? Did you investigate why?
FLORES: Could you tell us why?
“Because we distributed vaccine to hospitals and the hospitals said first come first serve and if you show up, we'll do it. So, they didn’t use a registration system, there wasn’t anything that was done and there’s a lot of demand for it. So, people are going to want to go ahead and get it,” the Governor schooled her.
After Flores accused the DeSantis of not having a plan, he went off on how Florida was empowering hospitals. “These guys are much competent to deliver healthcare services than a state government could ever be,” he explained. “So, we’re empowering the hospitals, 80 percent of the initial doses over the first three weeks were to hospitals. And you’ve seen places like Jackson really take the bull by the horns.”
When the clip of over, host Erin Burnett brought on Flores to falsely claim that DeSantis was trying to run from his responsibility.
This is not journalism. This is CNN.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront
January 4, 2021
7:56:50 p.m. EasternERIN BURNETT: And also tonight, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis defending the coronavirus vaccine rolling-out in his state. And he just had a heated exchange with our Rosa Flores. Let me play it for you.
[Cuts to video]
RODA FLORES: Governor, what has gone wrong with the roll-out of the vaccine, that we’ve seen phone lines jammed, websites crash—
GOV. RON DESANTIS: It’s a lot of demand. I mean, I think at the end of the day--
FLORES: Excuse me, if I can finish my question.
DESANTIS: Excuse me. Excuse me. You just said what's gone wrong. So, I’m answering the question.
FLORES: If I could complete the question though.
DESANTIS: So, you’re giving a speech or are you going to asked a question?
FLORES: With all due respect, Governor, I am trying to finish my question.
DESANTIS: No, you’re giving a speech. You asked a question.
FLORES: I’m trying to ask--
DESANTIS: You’re going to ask how many questions? You get three? They only got one question. Why do you get three?
FLORES: With all due respect, Governor, I am just asking if I can finish my question.
DESANTIS: You finished the question.
FLORES: I did not. My full question is: What went wrong with the roll out of the vaccine when we’ve seen phone lines jammed, websites crash--
DESANTIS: So, you’re repeating your question.
FLORES: To complete it for you, Governor. We’ve seen websites crash and also senior citizens waiting overnight for the vaccine.
DESANTIS: Where was that at?
FLORES: We’ve seen it in Duval, Broward, Orange, and Lee counties.
DESANTIS: Why was -- Like in Lee, why did that happen? Did you investigate why?
FLORES: That’s my question to you, Governor. You’re the governor of the state. I’m not the governor of the state.
DESANTIS: Okay, but you didn't investigate why? Like in Lee, why was there a big line? Did you investigate why?
FLORES: Could you tell us why?
DESANTIS: Because we distributed vaccine to hospitals and the hospitals said first come first serve and if you show up, we'll do it. So, they didn’t use a registration system, there wasn’t anything that was done and there’s a lot of demand for it. So, people are going to want to go ahead and get it.
FLORES (Speaking over DeSantis): So, are you saying there was no plan then from the state to make sure senior citizens did not wait outside over night?
DESANTIS: So, the state is not dictating to hospitals how-- we are not dictating to Carlos Magoya how he runs his operations here. That would be a total disaster. These guys are much competent to deliver healthcare services than a state government could ever be.
So, we’re empowering the hospitals, 80 percent of the initial doses over the first three weeks were to hospitals. And you’ve seen places like Jackson really take the bull by the horns. And yeah, if there is an issue like that, I think the hospital – I think made a course correction, and they decided to do it a little bit differently.
So – but here’s the thing. If you’re 74 years old in the state of Florida, we’ve made a decision that we want you to get vaccinated.
[Cuts back to live]
(…)
