The media has insisted there is a feud between Trump and DeSantis, except there’s that pesky lack of evidence issue.
There appears to be a growing trend in the press of late – not to suggest it is a new trend – of journalists dismissing testimony from those they are covering. A recent case is at National Public Radio, where the outlet has placed itself in the crosshairs over the Supreme Court mask drama they created. All three justices involved have come out to disavow the story completely, but NPR continues to back Nina Totenberg’s anonymously-sourced coverage. The result is that NPR is now effectively calling one-third of the Supreme Court liars, in a story about themselves.
In identical fashion, for a couple of weeks now, the press has been selling this fable of a bitter feud evolving between former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. A number of different stories have emerged as proof, with the consistent throughline being there have been no direct quotes from the players. Last night, Trump gave a direct quote, and he torched the entire narrative.
The stories began with reports that behind the scenes Trump is supposedly heard consistently dumping on Ron DeSantis in private discussions, calling the governor everything from lacking in personality to being ungrateful for Trump boosting him into office. This runs counter to Trump’s style. He is rarely, if ever, hesitant to say something publicly about those with whom he has a complaint. Does anyone really believe that if Trump is regularly trashing DeSantis – and doing so with an eye on the 2024 run – that he would hold back in any fashion?
The next report entered into evidence was an interview where Trump discussed vaccines and boosters, and he allegedly slammed DeSantis on this topic. Except, he did no such thing. One example of this reporting is from NBC News, where they tout in the headline, “Trump slams DeSantis over Covid vaccine booster shot.” The issue? He never mentioned the governor in his response to a question, nor anyone else in particular. When he spoke of anyone, it was in the plural. Here is Trump’s answer, with the disqualifying comments in bold.
“I watched a couple of politicians be interviewed and one of the questions was, ‘Did you get the booster? They don’t want to say it. Because they’re gutless.”
Could this include DeSantis? Sure, it is a possibility, but NBC takes the same position as many have in the press and decided this was a direct slam on the governor. Except he does not mention DeSantis by name, which defies all the coverage this answer was a definitive attack on the Florida leader. Trump has now blasted these reports, as he told a conference call this week and he just had an interview with Sean Hannity – another figure with an alleged feud brewing.
In the call to a group of reporters Trump said, “Well, I have a very good relationship with Governor DeSantis. I have a very good relationship with him, and we’ve had that for a long time. I was very supportive of him and I continue to be — no, I think he’s good, I think he’s very good.” Then on Hannity’s show, the former president went further, slamming the press directly over this very issue.
BREAKING: President Trump calls reports of fighting between him and Gov. Ron DeSantis “Totally Fake News”
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 21, 2022
Then last week, a firestorm erupted from the other side of this contrived contretemps, and in the same fashion, the insisted “attack” lacked supporting evidence. Ron DeSantis sat for an interview with the Ruthless Podcast, and we were told he attacked Trump’s COVID response and expressed regret at following his lockdown orders early in the pandemic. CNN’s Manu Raju sparked this hysteria.
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1482017236076445702?s=20
Of note is Raju using ‘’Trump administration’’ in his boast. It is something that DeSantis does not say in his interview, nor does he mention Trump in his answer to a query in this segment of the interview. Instead, he was criticizing Dr. Fauci and scorched the doctor over his history of contradictions. So, we are watching the press deflect from their beloved COVID figure and create a controversy where one does not exist. This is the length they go to fabricate this fight – and evidence to the contrary is completely ignored.
To see the lie being woven, we only need to listen to that same podcast interview. Earlier DeSantis was asked directly about Trump and the press showing a desire to drive a wedge between the men. He was asked directly, “Is there any sort of animosity? What’s that relationship like?” DeSantis did not flinch.
“I think this is what the media does. You cannot fall for the bait. You know what they’re trying to do, so just don’t take it. Just keep on keeping on. We need everybody united for a big red wave in 2022.”
This is remarkably brazen on the part of Raju, but also the press in general. They are out bleating about DeSantis slamming Donald Trump when he not only did no such thing but he actually called out the press for the attempt to smear them and claim a false feud is taking place – in the very same interview they hold up as proof! You can listen in for yourself.
Look, I am not above considering that the two men may end up locking horns politically at some point down the road. They have some decisions to make and arrangements to sort out, and there very well could be a conflict in a primary season. But I need to see some tangible evidence to buy into a claim of a venomous relationship right now. It is revealing that all of the supposed signs of a battle brewing do not provide us with anything valid.
And in the usual practice, when it comes to reporting on prominent names in the news, the press harbors a deep disinterest in what those very same people have to say. We are supposed to ignore the actual comments from the actual players – the press, and their anonymous contacts, know what these figures are really thinking. We just need to trust them on these matters.
Suuuuuure…
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