Ron DeSantis Turns Tables on CNN Reporter: Ask a Question, Don't 'Give a Speech'
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis was praised by Twitter conservatives for his deft takedown of a rude CNN reporter channeling a left-wing activist.
At a news conference Monday, CNN’s Rosa Flores criticized DeSantis for what she considered a disorderly rollout of the coronavirus vaccine in the Sunshine State.
When he tried to respond, Flores rudely interrupted him several times with condescending jabs disguised as hostile questions.
“Governor, what has gone wrong with the rollout of the vaccine that we’ve seen phone lines jammed, websites crashing … and also …”
“There’s a lot of demand,” DeSantis said. “I mean, I think at the end of the day …”
That’s when Flores interrupted him. “If I could complete the question though,” she quipped.
CNN’s Far left activist heckler posing as a journalist tries to ambush Gov. DeSantis. Immediately regrets it pic.twitter.com/icatbYAoEb
— Melissa Tate (@TheRightMelissa) January 5, 2021
DeSantis replied, “So, you’re going to give a speech? Or are you going to ask a question? You asked a question and I’m gonna answer it.”
Flores then insisted that she was trying to complete her sentence. “I’m trying to finish my question,” she said.
DeSantis retorted, “No. You’re giving a speech. You asked a question. You’re going to ask how many questions? You get three?”
The governor pointed to the other reporters in the media scrum and remarked, “They only got one question. Why do you get three?”
The two went back and forth, as Flores played the victim by suggesting that DeSantis cut her off.
Flores then repeated her question by stammering, “My full question is, what went wrong with the rollout of the vaccine when we’ve seen phone lines jammed, websites crashing, and …”
“So, you’re repeating your question?” DeSantis said.
Flores claimed senior citizens in various counties had waited overnight to receive the injection.
DeSantis said the vaccine rollout was not the issue — there were lines because of outsized demand (not improper execution by his office).
“Because we distributed vaccine to hospitals, and the hospitals said, ‘First come, first serve, if you show up, we’ll do it.’ So, they didn’t use a registration system,” DeSantis explained.
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“There wasn’t anything that was done, and there’s a lot of demand for it. So, people are going to want to go ahead and get it.”
DeSantis then underscored that the state did not — and should not — dictate to hospitals how they should dispense vaccine doses, because health care providers do a better job of that than state governments.
Gov. DeSantis’ no-nonsense smackdown of the CNN reporter won praise from conservatives on Twitter.
“DeSantis is the hero we need,” one Twitter user said.
DeSantis is the hero we need. https://t.co/K9lFT8dYyd
— His Fraudulency Doctor Mole (@molemole21) January 5, 2021
Another chimed in, “Nice work governor. #fakenews is the enemy of the people.”
Nice work governor. #fakenews is the enemy of the people https://t.co/1p4kxp57L5
— MAGA Maniac (@LaneJQuirk) January 5, 2021
DeSantis’ skillful handling of the media is reminiscent of how President Donald Trump eviscerated showboating left-wing “journalists” who repeatedly hijacked news conferences to make themselves the focus of the day’s news.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
