Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, as usual, hit the nail right on the head the other day.
Fox News headlined:
DeSantis calls for media to hold Democratic California leaders accountable for wildfires: 'Have not seen that’
DeSantis said he'd like to 'see some balance' in how Democrat and Republican leaders are treated by some media
The story reported as follows, with bold print for emphasis supplied:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called out a reporter on Thursday for the lack of blame being placed on California leaders for the devastating wildfires, pointing out that it's in stark contrast to how Republican leaders are often treated in the wake of disasters.
DeSantis, and all other Republican governors, had just wrapped up a dinner with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday evening when the heated exchange with a reporter took place.
The reporter appeared to be asking another governor if it was appropriate for Trump to criticize Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom as deadly wildfires rage throughout the state.
The question prompted DeSantis to step forward and ask, 'Is it appropriate for people in your industry to try to create division and to try to create narratives any time these things happen?'
'Now, you're not as interested in doing that because Newsom is a D. If Newsom was a Republican, you guys would go try ... you would have him nailed to the wall for what they're doing over there,' he continued.
Bingo.
Were Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom Republicans, DeSantis is 100% correct that the media would have come down on the two like the proverbial ton of bricks.
Examples?
Recall the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas in 2022? Awful. There were 19 students and 2 teachers shot to death by a former student. Here’s a sample headline from that event that appeared in the Texas Tribune:
Families of the Uvalde shooting victims denounce Gov. Greg Abbott’s inaction on gun reform
The governor has made a vocal enemy in the families of Robb Elementary shooting victims. They are demanding a special legislative session to reach a compromise on the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic rifles.
Then there was this headline in the lefty New Republic following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, zeroing in on House Speaker Mike Johnson:
Mike Johnson Has Infuriating Response to Calls for Hurricane Aid
House Democrats urged the speaker to reconvene Congress and pass additional funding for FEMA, but Johnson had a better idea.
Also in 2022, following a school shooting in Parkland Florida, there was a shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. The Newsweek headline:
Parkland Father Blames Ron DeSantis, Other Republicans for Buffalo Shooting
And on it goes.
Pick a tragedy - a school shooting, a hurricane to name two - and the media is quick to zero in if the governor or other top official is a Republican.
Yet here we are watching the horrific fire sweeping the Los Angeles area and lo and behold, Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom, both with responsibilities to protect Los Angeles from the looming potential of the natural disaster that is these fires, and the media falls silent on their performance.
By contrast, in one case that took place by sheer accident, there was this moment in California where a distraught Mom found herself in a parking lot with Governor Newsom. Thanks to someone with a cell phone, there is video, which the New York Post got hold of, headlining:
Furious mom confronts Gov. Gavin Newsom over LA fires as he bizarrely claims he’s ‘literally’ calling Biden
This gem of a story reports:
A distraught Los Angeles mother confronted California Gov. Gavin Newsom in the ashen remains of her neighborhood, demanding to know what he was doing about the wildfires devouring the city — to which the embattled governor claimed he was calling President Biden for federal support, but just couldn’t get reception.
'Governor! Governor! I live here, Governor! That was my daughter’s school!' said Pacific Palisades resident Rachel Dervish as she chased after Newsom through LA’s carnage Thursday.
'What are you going to do for her?' she said, cornering him alongside his car in an interaction filmed by Sky News.
….Dervish then demanded to know what Newsom — whom President-elect Donald Trump accused of hindering Southern California’s water supply — was doing to help the community, and why things ended up the way they did.
'Why was there no water in the hydrants, Governor? Is it going to be different next time?' she asked.
'It has to be, it has to be, of course,' he replied in a hushed tone
'What are you going to do?'
'I’m doing everything I can,' the governor said. 'I will do whatever I can.'
'But you’re not!' she shot back.
Ouch. Ouch.
But all of these incidents prove the DeSantis point exactly. If the person in charge of these episodes were Democrats, the media would keep considerable distance from placing blame on the Democrat in charge. (Unless you are an angry, distraught Mom who accidentally finds herself face to face with a reluctant Governor Newsom.)
But if the Governor or other official in charge is a Republican -- a Texas GOP Governor Abbott, a House Speaker Johnson or, no irony, Governor DeSantis himself -- then the media will swoop in with a determined effort to headline that GOP official’s responsibility for whatever tragedy is at hand.
It is very safe to say that Governor DeSantis stepped forward the other day to point out this hypocrisy because he has seen it close up and knows how the lefty media plays this game.
Any sense of shame from the media? Will they zero in and apply in any serious manner an up to date version of that old Watergate scandal question to Newsom and Bass?
As in, "What did Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass know about the looming dangers of this fire - and when did they know it?”
Don’t hold your breath.
