Far too many times in the past, Republicans didn’t do well dealing with a hostile press. Yeah, “hostile press” is a redundant term, but bear with me.
So many old-school Republicans tried to be too nice to reporters, too eager to get along with them to turn their gotcha questions back in their faces. But more recently, a spate of Gen X —heck yeah — and Millennial Republicans are refusing to allow agenda-driven reporters to play the same old game. One of the leading lights in this new era of dealing with the media is Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.)
Last week, DeSantis had a reporter ask him about hurricanes and climate change. Not only did he refuse to buy into the reporter’s agenda, but he also responded with an impressive grasp of facts, history, and statistics. It was glorious:
Governor @RonDeSantis shot down a news reporter today who tried to get him to blame Hurricane Milton on climate change. He didn’t evade it either — he directly answered the question and cited stats to debunk the claim.
— Chris Martz (@ChrisMartzWX) October 10, 2024
Oh, and those stats Governor DeSantis cited? They were… pic.twitter.com/eeribQJT9a
On Thursday, DeSantis spoke in Sarasota, where he was announcing the recipients of awards from the Florida Disaster Fund. The announcement included a press conference.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve worked hard to help Floridians recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, with the largest coordinated response in state history. Our state response has been made in record time thanks to the hard work of emergency personnel, linemen, and many… pic.twitter.com/RDeCKP7W30
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 17, 2024
A snotty reporter asked the governor, "When will the words 'climate change' come out of your mouth?" DeSantis was having none of it.
“The chance of me virtue signaling for people in the media is zero, so do not count on that,” he began as applause swelled. “I don't — I don’t subscribe to your religion.”
The applause stopped, but DeSantis didn’t.
“And it's just a tired refrain and song and dance,” he continued. “I get you have an agenda. I understand that.”
But next came the meat of DeSantis’ statement. He explained what the climate change agenda would mean for the American people.
“I think you should be more honest about what that would mean for people, taxing them to smithereens, stopping oil and gas, making people pay dramatically more for energy,” he schooled the reporter. "We would — we would collapse as a country. So this whole idea of climate ideology driving policy — it just factually can't work. And so, in Florida, our energy is gonna be affordable and reliable. That's what we're gonna do.”
The governor brought it back home to his state’s recent efforts to recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
“That's the only way you can adequately respond to things like we just saw with the storms to get people hooked back up,” he concluded.
Bravo, Gov. DeSantis. Not only are you leading Florida masterfully, but you’re also setting the example for not letting agenda-driver reporters get away with gotcha questions.
Watch the whole exchange here:
Narrative-driven reporter asks, "When will the words 'Climate Change' come out of your mouth?"@GovRonDeSantis rightly puts him in his place: "The chance of me virtue signaling for people in the media is ZERO."
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) October 17, 2024
Policy cannot be driven by the climate alarmists--we'd collpase. pic.twitter.com/flFV2Vxzf6
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