CNN reporter Kate Bolduan said Thursday morning that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office had not responded to the network’s request for comment, but the governor’s press secretary has a different story.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried appeared on CNN to defend mask mandates and accuse DeSantis of hiding COVID-19 data. Bolduan claimed that CNN had contacted DeSantis’ office before Fried’s appearance and had not gotten a response.
DeSantis’ Press Secretary Christina Pushaw fired back on Twitter with a screenshot of CNN’s email, which was sent to the governor’s former spokesperson. (RELATED: White House’s ‘Misleading Rhetoric’ May Falsely Lead Americans To Think DeSantis Is Anti-Vaccine, Spox Says)
Pushaw said that the former spokesperson, Meredith Beatrice, left the position five months ago. The screenshot Pushaw posted showed an email addressed to Meredith from CNN correspondent Nick Valencia. Valencia said in the email that he was following up on a voicemail and asked for a statement in reaction to Fried’s press conference, where she said that masks are effective in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in schools.
This morning, @NikkiFried went on CNN to demand forced-masking and falsely accuse @GovRonDeSantis of “hiding data.” @KateBolduan asserted “CNN contacted the governor’s office with no response.” In fact, CNN contacted the FORMER comms person who moved to a new agency 5 months ago pic.twitter.com/IlyIS6R7SU
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) October 7, 2021
Pushaw said in a follow-up tweet that CNN had contacted the office’s general media inbox, but gave them less than an hour to respond to the request for comment. The press secretary said that they did send a response and urged CNN to correct their statements. (RELATED: DeSantis Challenger Says Her ‘Greatest Weakness’ Is His ‘National Platform’ — Poppy Harlow Reminds Her She’s On CNN)
“At 9:22 AM, CNN wrote to our general media inbox, expecting an immediate response (less than an hour) to detailed allegations that require specific data to refute,” Pushaw said. “We sent a response and look forward to @KateBolduan correcting the record!”