TALLAHASSEE REPORTS
Page 6 August 28, 2021
State News
Florida Gov. DeSantis Pulled in $4 Million in July, Opponents Far Behind By Grant Holcomb The Florida Capital Star
Department of State’s Division of Elections. Similarly, U.S. Congressman Charlie Crist (D-13) raised just shy of $270,000 during the month of July. DeSantis has continued to garner national support for taking on the larger COVID narratives surrounding the pandemic’s policies. This includes getting into a back-and-forth with President Joe Biden over the issue of mask mandates in Florida’s schools. The federal government has been warning against Ron DeSantis’ executive order banning mask mandates, and DeSantis responded saying he did not want to hear from the Biden administration.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pulled in $4 million during July, expanding on his already large war chest. The July financial report shows over 18,000 contributions during July, which is over 63 percent of total contributions Friends of Ron DeSantis has collected since January 2018. DeSantis’ opponents are vastly trailing in dollar amounts. During July, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried raked in just over $130,000, according to the Florida
“So why don’t you do your job?” DeSantis said. “Why don’t you get this border secure, and until you do that, I don’t want to hear a blip about COVID from you. Thank you.” Other political voices, namely CNN’s Jim Acosta, said Americans should start referring to the Delta variant as the “DeSantis variant.” “Perhaps it’s time to start naming these new variants that may be coming out after them,” Acosta said. “Instead of the delta variant, why not call it the DeSantis variant?” Despite being called out by Democrats at the federal and state levels, and
Florida Unemployment Ticks Up in July By Casey Owens The Florida Capital Star
it just takes a little bit of time for those connections to be made.” According to the data, in July 2021, The Florida Department of Econom- Florida’s seasonally adjusted total of ic Opportunity (DEO) released statenonagricultural jobs or employment wide unemployment data on Friday, was 8,756,300, up 68,100 jobs from showing a slight increase in the unem- June. ployment rate from June to July. Compared to July 2020, the number As stated in the DEO release, Florof jobs in July 2021 is higher by 11.3%. ida’s seasonally adjusted unemployOver the year, the total number of jobs ment rate was 5.1 percent in July 2021, the state gained was 356,700, up 4.2% up 0.1% from the June 2021 rate, and from July 2020. Nationally, the year-todown from 6.4% one year ago. year total number of jobs in the month At this time last year, businesses that of July increased by 5.2%. had either scaled back or shut down Overall positive job growth in Florin the wake of the pandemic were just ida comes as a result of nine of the ten starting to benefit from Governor De- major industries experiencing positive Santis’ efforts to re-open the state. year-to-year job growth in July. The “When you look at June and July nine industries are listed below from (this year), we actually saw a higher highest to lowest increase: uptick of people joining the labor “Leisure and hospitality (+137,800 force. So, that’s probably an indication jobs, +14.6%); professional and busiof positive impacts there,” DEO Chief ness services (+63,200 jobs, +4.7%); Economist Adrienne Johnston said in a trade, transportation, and utilities conference call. “Things are continuing (+58,000 jobs, +3.3%); education and to increase. We are continuing to see health services (+41,100 jobs, +3.2%); people move back into the labor force. other services (+30,900 jobs, +9.9%); They are encouraged to find work, and financial activities (+22,000 jobs,
DeSantis Press Secretary Suspended from Twitter Over Spat with AP By Grant Holcomb The Florida Capital Star Last week, the Associated Press (AP) published a story regarding Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his push for monoclonal antibody treatment, which is sold by Regeneron. In the wake of the article, DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, found her Twitter account suspended for allegedly “harassing” the reporter who broke the AP story. In the original article, Brendan Farrington, who wrote the piece, noted Citadel, a Chicagobased hedge fund, owns over $15 million of Regeneron. The CEO of Citadel, Ken Griffin, is a multi-million-dollar donor to the DeSantis campaign. DeSantis has been previously touting the monoclonal antibody treatments for patients with earlyonset symptoms and said hospitalizations have been reduced by as much as 70 percent during clinical trials. As a result of the article, Pushaw, criticized the framing of the article as it made it sound like a “cheap political innuendo” “The issue is that most people only read the headline,” Pushaw said to Fox News. “I have an issue with the headline because it frames it up as though there's pay to play going on or a conflict of interest when there is not, and he admits as much in the article.” Pushaw then posted a series of tweets in response to Farrington’s article. "Hey @bsfarrington. Sad to see this cheap political innuendo from AP,” Pushaw said. “Should be ‘DeSantis & Biden Agree Monoclonals Save Lives.’ You KNEW this isn’t a story. You KNOW you can’t defend it. You said your ‘boss’s boss’ wouldn’t change the headline—& you re-
fused to tell me his name.” Pushaw issued a statement to Fox News saying Farrington received info for the new treatment and the Griffin connection from her, but said he was pressured to write the story. After the series of tweets, Pushaw found her Twitter account suspended and “has been locked for 12 hours for violating the Twitter Rules on abusive behavior.” Fox News reporter Joseph Wulfsohn noted that Twitter declined to comment when asked what specific violations Pushaw participated in. After Pushaw’s suspension, the AP sent a letter to DeSantis calling on him to “eliminate this attack strategy from your press office” after Pushaw’s “direct effort to activate an online mob to attack.” The DeSantis administration and Pushaw both said they did not condone the threats toward Farrington. Pushaw responded to her suspension by saying she felt the AP politicized an opportunity for Floridians to get help for COVID treatment using the monoclonal antibody therapy. "They got caught publishing misinformation that could endanger the lives of Floridians by making them unduly trust a life-saving treatment … over a governor they've decided they don't like," Pushaw said. "They got called out for it in part because of me, in part because the story was so obviously wrong … They brought this on themselves by publishing this kind of dangerous misinformation." Dan Sweeney, a Deputy Opinions Editor at the South Florida Sun Sentinel, who self-described his editorial board at the Sun Sentinel as DeSantis critics, noted the AP story “doesn’t really add up.”
+3.7%); construction (+12,400 jobs, +2.2 percent); manufacturing (+9,600 jobs, +2.6%); and information (+6,700 jobs, +5.3%).” The only major industry that did not experience positive job growth was total government, which recorded a decrease of 23,200 jobs or -2.5%. Additionally, the data highlights the four counties with the lowest unemployment rates in Florida – as well as the seven counties that share the three highest unemployment rates. The four lowest unemployment rates were 3.1%, 3.6%, 3.9%, and 4.0%, belonging to Monroe, St. Johns, Okaloosa, and Nassau Counties, respectively. The highest unemployment rate was 7.6% and belonged to Hendry County. The next highest was 6.8% and was shared with Highlands County, Putnam County, and Hardee County. The third highest was 6.5%, shared with Miami-Dade County, Citrus County, and Sumter County. The national unemployment rate for July 2021 was 5.7%.
Governor DeSantis Appoints Three New Members to Elections Commission By Casey Owens The Florida Capital Star Governor DeSantis appointed Nicholas Primrose, Marva Preston and Carlos LopezCantera to the Florida Elections Commission on Friday, with Primrose being the designated Chair. DeSantis' appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate and are the first in over a year to replace all current members of the FEC whose terms have expired but are still serving. Commissioners Kymberlee Smith and J. Martin Hayes' terms expired on December 31st, 2020, while Commissioners Joni Poitier and Jason Allen's terms expired on December 31st, 2019. All three of DeSantis' appointments are Republican, with two formerly serving under former Republican Governor, Rick Scott. Lopez-Cantera served under Scott as Lieutenant Governor from 2014 to 2019, while Primrose served in the Executive Office of the Governor as the Deputy General Counsel, and General Counsel to the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Currently, Lopez-Cantera is President of a company known as Pan American Consulting, and Primrose is the Chief of Regulatory Compliance for the Jacksonville Port Authority. While all three appointees represent the Republican party, it is important to note that no more than five Commissioners can be from the same political party at any one time. The Commission is under the wing of the Department of Legal Affairs run by the Office of the Attorney General, but is not "subject to the control, supervision, or direction of the Department of Legal Affairs or the Attorney General in the performance of its duties," according to The Commission's website. Furthermore, the official duty of the ninemember Commission is to secure and regulate transparency regarding elections, as well as handling complaints or cases dealing with election codes and regulations established in Florida Statutes.
from the mainstream media, DeSantis’ insistence on refusing to impose regulations and burdens infringing on the rights of the people is part of the appeal. “People around the country are tired of government lockdown politics, illegal immigration, and big government eroding our individual freedoms,” said Nick Iarossi, a Republican lobbyist and DeSantis adviser. “Governor DeSantis is the tip of the spear in the fight against these Biden administration politics and a warrior for individual freedom.”
Florida Faculty Union Demands Mask Mandate in Colleges and Universities By Grant Holcomb The Florida Capital Star The United Faculty of Florida is demanding Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis impose a mask mandate on all of Florida’s colleges and universities. The basis for the request is rooted in the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in July, which said everyone should wear masks indoors. The group called on the governor through a letter that said Florida’s colleges and universities should “follow CDC recommendations, including universal masking indoors and other common-sense measures, to limit severe illness and keep our colleges and universities open for learning.” Despite the CDC’s recommendations and the insistence from the union, there are studies that indicate masks are ineffective regarding the prevention of the transmission of COVID-19 and its variants. The University of Louisville published a study in May saying masks may be used as a “rallying symbol” for the pandemic, but masks were inconsequential, and the effects of wearing masks for prolonged periods of time could have adverse effects. “Our findings do not support the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 transmission rates decrease with greater public mask use,” the study said. The study continued by pointing out the potential adverse effects of mask use: “Prolonged mask use (>4 hours per day) promotes facial alkalinization and inadvertently encourages dehydration, which in turn can enhance barrier breakdown and bacterial infection risk. British clinicians have reported masks to increase headaches and sweating and decrease cognitive precision. Survey bias notwithstanding, these sequelae are associated with medical errors. By obscuring nonverbal communication, masks interfere with social learning in children. Likewise, masks can distort verbal speech and remove visual cues to the detriment of individuals with hearing loss; clear face-shields improve visual integration, but there is a corresponding loss of sound quality.” DeSantis has been insistent on not implementing mask mandates, lockdowns, or vaccine requirements and has had to issue letters to local school districts warning them of financial punishments for implementing mask mandates despite DeSantis’ mask mandate ban. DeSantis has said if governmental bodies are going to infringe on the rights of Floridians regarding masks and COVID-related restrictions, he was going to stand in their way. “If you’re trying to restrict people, impose mandates, if you’re trying to ruin their jobs and livelihood, and their small business, if you’re trying to lock people down, I’m standing in your way, and I’m standing for the people of Florida,” DeSantis said.
Disney to Require Vaccinations for Bahamas Cruises
DISNEY, From Front Page
to require passengers to show documentation that they have been vaccinated — an issue known as requiring “vaccine passports.” DeSantis signed a law this spring to prevent businesses, including cruise lines, from requiring vaccine passports. But Norwegian filed a lawsuit challenging the ban, as it wanted to require passengers to prove they have been
vaccinated. A federal district judge this month sided with Norwegian and granted a preliminary injunction against the ban. The state has challenged that ruling at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Appearing on Yahoo Finance last week, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings President and CEO Frank Del Rio called it “beyond bizarre” and “shame-
ful” that his company has had to fight DeSantis to keep people healthy. “Here’s a state that relies on tourism. It’s his number one industry. And the number one priority of any hospitality business is to keep their customers safe. I mean, that’s de rigueur,” Del Rio said. “You would expect that government, again, would do everything possible to support that. Instead, we had to go to
court.” Minnis’ order will require the captain or master of any cruise ship to provide “a crew and passenger manifest to the port medical officer” to receive permission to enter a Bahamas port, including a private stop.
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