Florida Governor Ron DeSantis contends that Republicans would face intense media scrutiny if they were responsible for a similar disaster.
Governor Ron DeSantis criticized the US media for what he views as biased reporting on natural disasters, focusing on the devastating California wildfires. He highlighted the ten fatalities reported in Los Angeles County by Friday and noted Republican accusations that the state’s Democratic leadership prioritized policies that hindered effective emergency response.
Following President-elect Trump’s call for Governor Newsom’s resignation over alleged mismanagement of water resources, DeSantis clashed with reporters who questioned the appropriateness of Trump’s statement. This exchange occurred during a press conference with other Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago.
DeSantis blasts a reporter for questioning Trump’s criticism of Newsom: “Is it appropriate for people in your industry to try to create division and try to create narratives anytime these things happen? … If Newsom was a Republican, you guys would have him nailed to the wall…
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra)
“Is it appropriate for people in your industry to try to create division and to create narratives whenever these events occur?” DeSantis asked. “If Newsom were a Republican… you would hold him fully accountable for their actions.”
DeSantis pointed to media coverage of events in Florida, such as the Surfside condominium collapse in 2021, arguing that his state’s Republicans expect similar incidents to be politicized by the media. He implied that pro-Democratic journalists lacked credibility to criticize Republican messaging given their past reporting.
“You can criticize the president-elect, but you must also hold other officials accountable, and I haven’t seen that,” he concluded, referring to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other California officials.
Mayor Bass, a target of conservative criticism, was out of the country during the crisis, returning only Wednesday evening after attending an inauguration in Ghana. Reports indicated over 1,000 homes were destroyed and approximately 100,000 people evacuated.
The New York Times suggested that Mayor Bass underestimated the risks, given the National Weather Service’s extreme weather warning issued the previous Thursday.