CNN, the purveyors of what is and isn’t...conservative? Such was the case on Monday morning’s CNN Newsroom when host and former Obama official Jim Sciutto dedicated a block to proclaiming that “some conservatives are concerned” possible 2024 presidential candidate and Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) wasn’t an actual conservative and instead some sort of big government authoritarian.
And for good measure, Sciutto made sure to smear official 2024 GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley with false claims of wanting to cut Medicare and Social Security, robbing seniors of money from a system they had paid into through their entire working lives. All told, both came off like efforts to impale challengers to Donald Trump.
Sciutto began with a clip of DeSantis at the first of multiple stops Monday defending law enforcement. After the clip in which DeSantis said Florida “support[s] strong policies to keep communities safe,” Sciutto claimed, if he had asked police, they’d cite gun control as the way to make us safer.
He then added his stops come “as some conservatives are concerned about how DeSantis is using his government power in Florida and his fight what he calls their wokeness.”
Tossing to Florida-based correspondent Steve Conotorno, Sciutto wondered, “[W]hat specifically are Republican leaders worried about?”
Contorno never said which “conservative donors” or “organizations” were saying DeSantis wasn’t an actual conservative, so take that as a dead giveaway that this narrative concocted in recent days has been largely media-driven.
Nonetheless, he cited these vague entities as concerned DeSantis has gone against the belief “that government shouldn’t be in the business of businesses and that some of the steps taken by Governor DeSantis have inflicted his conservative ideology on state institutions, on businesses, and sometimes even punishing businesses that run afoul of his point of view.”
Contorno cited examples such as “his fight with Disney over the so-called Don’t Say Gay bill” (plus their masking and vaccination policies), far-left work seminars, “banks that lend in ways that he doesn’t agree with” (which is ESG, the far-left attempt to inject liberal partisanship into all facets of the economy), and his recent war with College Board over the new AP African-American studies class.
And on the AP class, Contorno tried to imply DeSantis was purposefully trying to make college more expensive for Floridians by ending AP classes and “finding alternatives to the SAT,” which hasn’t even been finalized yet and was further misleading because more and more universities have said they’d be dropping the SAT from their admissions process.
Put it all together, he argued, and “Republicans, including his supporters...are worried that he might be flying a little bit too close to the sun with his war on wokeness.”
Examples? Again, all esoteric and anonymous except for moderate Republicans who might also mount presidential bides in Governor Chris Sununu (NH) and former Governors Larry Hogan (MD) and Asa Hutchinson (AR).
Sciutto continued to the tilted affair with Time magazine’s Molly Ball (click “expand”):
SCIUTTO: But to hear some conservatives that DeSantis’s positions in Florida might be too out there, what are we seeing within the Republican Party right now?
BALL: Well, I think a lot of it is without an official candidacy by DeSantis, a lot of this is just filling a vacuum —
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
BALL: — with sort of speculation and rumor. Look, a lot of the things that Republican voters really like about governor DeSantis are the similarities with Trump. Chiefly his willingness to use the force of the state, state coercion in some cases, to punish —
SCIUTTO: Mmhmm.
BALL: — businesses and to enforce the sort of culture war initiatives that he has his eye on. So that is, I think, viewed as a strength by many of DeSantis’s fans.
SCIUTTO: Mmhmm.
BALL: It’s a similarity with Trump. He’s been able to — and I think this is also a sign of how the Republican Party has sort of realigned itself ideologically around the Trump axis...These concerns about the size and scope of government and the sort of ideological libertarianism that underlie Republican doctrine is really not as much on people’s minds as it used to be.
Moving to Haley, Sciutto aired a piece of her Fox News Sunday appearance in which she reiterated that “we do have to address entitlements” while not “tak[ing] away from anyone that we’ve promised things to” and instead “get in front of” a fiscal cliff.
Ignoring the fact that even fellow leftists like The Washington Post have said something needs to be done ahead of the programs going broke, Sciutto dishonestly claimed it “sounds a lot to me like...the propose to those of us paying right now” would be broken and “entitlements are on the table.”
Ball only gently pumped the brakes, nothing the “fiscal conservatives, party donors, old school Republican types” who “believe that the spending on these programs is unsustainable” would have plans affecting “future beneficiaries, not current beneficiaries who are already receiving — or who are potentially about to receive these benefits.”
Cortorno’s report would be replayed throughout the day, including in the 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour when, afterward, faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin offered her thoughts. Here was how part of that went:
.@AlyssaFarah comes out strongly against Ron DeSantis, trashing him as someone who's not conservative & instead is obsessed w/"capturing media attention," "ril[ing] up the base," & irritating "lifelong conservatives" like her
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 20, 2023
She says Hogan & Sununu are the real conservatives. pic.twitter.com/MB5GYKEAaG
CNN trying to clear the field of serious conservatives with dishonest smears was made possible thanks to the support of advertisers such as Consumer Cellular and Hughesnet. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcript from February 20, click “expand.”
CNN Newsroom
February 20, 2023
9:38 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Testing the Waters; Fl. Gov. Ron DeSantis Attends NY Rally for Law Enforcement]
JIM SCIUTTO: This morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is in New York where he spoke at a rally there supporting law enforcement.
GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We support strong policies to keep our communities safe, and we back the blue and we support their mission. And we back it up with money and all kinds of stuff to be able to do it. The reason why you have what you have in some of these other jurisdictions is because they’re putting woke ideology ahead of your safety as New Yorkers or as people from Illinois or wherever you have this type of policy taking place.
SCIUTTO: Well, U.S. police, NYPD do say they need better gun safety measures as well to fight crime. The governor has not announced he is running for president. He seemed to be courting, however, New York voters this morning. His visit comes as some conservatives are concerned about how DeSantis is using his government power in Florida and his fight what he calls their wokeness. CNN’s Steve Conotorno joins us now. Steve, what specifically are Republican leaders worried about?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Testing the Waters; Some Conservatives Worried About DeSantis’ Use of Government Power]
STEVE CONTORNO: Jim, there are a couple factors at play here. First is you have conservative donors and — and organizations that generally believe that government shouldn’t be in the business of businesses. And that some of the steps taken by Governor DeSantis have inflicted his conservative ideology on state institutions, on businesses, and sometimes even punishing businesses that run afoul of his point of view. We’ve seen obviously that — has played out publicly in his fight with Disney over the so-called Don’t Say Gay bill, but we’ve also seen him punish visits for their vaccination in mask policies. We’ve seen him put restrictions how businesses can train their employees around issues of racism. We have seen him now say he wants to go after banks that lend in ways that he doesn’t agree with. So, there’s that part of it, but there’s also Republicans, including his supporters, who are worried that he might be flying a little bit too close to the sun with his war on wokeness. You know, this most recent spat with the College Board over this AP African-American Studies class, I mean, he is now talking about potentially pulling ap classes out of Florida entirely, finding alternatives to the SAT, these are things that parents around the country use to help their students get into good colleges, to save a bit of money on their higher education and there are concerns that they don’t know how this is going to play out nationally when this stuff — when he starts campaigning in a national campaign. And what we’re seeing is Republican candidates starting to seize on this a bit, especially those who are start — who want to turn the page from these Trump-era politics. We have seen Governor Sununu of New Hampshire, former Governor Hogan of Maryland, Governor Hutchinson of Arkansas, they have all raised concern with how DeSantis has been so heavy handed with businesses. Now, Jim, Governor DeSantis remains very popular in Florida. He’s growing popularity across the country. He has quite a bit of support among those who want to see him challenge President Donald Trump. But these are the questions he is going to face from Republican voters and from his potential competitors if he does jump into that race.
SCIUTTO: Steve Contorono, thanks so much. Joining us now, Molly Ball, national political correspondent for Time magazine. So, the conventional wisdom, which I generally hate, had been to some degree that DeSantis was the kind of anti-Trump candidate, someone who could get the MAGA voters to — to back him, but not be Trump in effect. You would hear that from some Republicans. But to hear some conservatives that DeSantis’s positions in Florida might be too out there, what are we seeing within the Republican Party right now?
MOLLY BALL: Well, I think a lot of it is without an official candidacy by DeSantis, a lot of this is just filling a vacuum —
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
BALL: — with sort of speculation and rumor. Look, a lot of the things that Republican voters really like about governor DeSantis are the similarities with Trump. Chiefly his willingness to use the force of the state, state coercion in some cases, to punish —
SCIUTTO: Mmhmm.
BALL: — businesses and to enforce the sort of culture war initiatives that he has his eye on. So that is, I think, viewed as a strength by many of DeSantis’s fans.
SCIUTTO: Mmhmm.
BALL: It’s a similarity with Trump. He’s been able to — and I think this is also a sign of how the Republican Party has sort of realigned itself ideologically around the Trump axis since Trump first became a candidate now nearly a decade ago. These concerns about the size and scope of government and the sort of ideological libertarianism that underlie Republican doctrine is really not as much on people’s minds as it used to be. And so, lot of the candidates who are more overtly against the sort of legacy that Trump has left in the party are, of course, going to object to that.
SCIUTTO: Mmhmm.
BALL: But I think that is one of the things that for many Republican-based voters is a strength for DeSantis.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. Interesting you noted, it is eight years since that ride down the escalator for Trump. I want to play something that Nikki Haley, of course, has already announced her candidacy for 2024, said during her travels through Iowa this week regarding Social Security and Medicare. Have a listen. I want to get your reaction.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: 2024 Race; Haley Heads to Iowa Amid Questions About Medicare, Social Security]
NIKKI HALEY [on Fox News Sunday, 02/19/23]: There is an issue of entitlements and I think that we do have to address entitlements. However, I don’t think we take away from anyone that we’ve promised things to. I think we focus on the new generation coming into the system because they already know they’re not going to get anything from it. And we need to get in front of that. And that means you go and you look at the new ones coming in and you keep your promises to those that have already been in the system.
SCIUTTO: I listen to that, that sounds a lot to me like saying, okay, you’re already receiving Medicare, Social Security, you won’t be touched, but the promise to those of us paying right now may not be kept, right? I mean, that sounds to me like entitlements are on the table and this is a candidate for — for the Republican nomination in 2024.
BALL: Well, and, again, I feel like I’m having flashbacks to 2015, right? I mean, this is exactly sort of the Paul Ryan line of the old Republican Party, which was very determined to enact some sort of entitlement reform.
SCIUTTO: Oh.
BALL: And it is still the case that a lot of fiscal conservatives, party donors, old school Republican types do believe that the spending on these programs is unsustainable and there does have to be some reform. And it has always been the case these sort of plans to reform entitlements for the most part have targeted future beneficiaries, not current beneficiaries who are already receiving — or who are potentially about to receive these benefits. But it is obviously something that Trump has made a litmus test for the party and has made a dividing line in the party and that we have seen become a source of tension in the party between, for example, Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott because these entitlement programs are incredibly popular. 80, 90 percent of voters do not want to see any changes to Social Security.
SCIUTTO: Nope.
BALL: They’re just viewed as a guarantee and something that many Americans feel like they’ve earned. So, you know, that was a big part of Trump’s success in 2016 and I think it’s something that, again, the party has sort of realigned itself around to the point where it’s become — well, it’s always been sort of a third rail and become something that is seen as sort of untouchable, so this is going to be, I think, a live debate in the primary in the primaries this year.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. Not describing it as untouchable. And by the way, we’re all paying into it right now. Just watch your paycheck every two weeks. Those — those contributions still go in, whatever the discussions. Molly Ball, thanks so much.
