The story, by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, suggested that there was a possible link between the donation and the state’s partnership with Publix stores for the distribution of vaccines – a serious foul play problem, if true.
But aside from highlighting public finances, “60 Minutes” has never provided any material evidence to back up the important allegation and tie the donation to the partnership.
After the report aired, the Democratic Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Democratic Mayor of Palm Beach County both responded publicly, saying that a partnership with Publix was not suggested by anyone from the DeSantis office.
In a Sunday night tweet targeting “60 Minutes,” Jared Moskowitz, Florida Director of Emergency Management, wrote, “I’ve said this before and will say it again. [Publix] was recommended by [Florida Division of Emergency Management] and [Florida Department of Public Health]Period! Point!”
“No one from the governor’s office has suggested Publix,” Moskowitz added. ‘It’s just an absolute malarkey.’
Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner made a similar sentiment in a statement Monday.
“I watched the 60 Minutes segment in Palm Beach County last night and feel compelled to make this statement,” said Kerner.
Kerner accused “60 Minutes” of reporting “intentionally false” information, saying the program knew DeSantis had met him and that the county had been the entity requesting “extension of the state’s partnership with Publix. “.
Publix also issued a statement criticizing the allegation, but the supermarket chain did not mention “60 minutes” by name.
“The irresponsible suggestion that there was a link between campaign contributions to Governor DeSantis and our willingness to work with other pharmacies to support the state’s vaccine distribution is absolutely false and insulting,” Publix said Monday.
In a statement Monday afternoon, the DeSantis office said, “Florida partnered with Publix because they were ready to administer the vaccine in their pharmacy in a few days, while other pharmacies weren’t ready.”
“Failure to take advantage of this partnership with Publix as soon as possible would have been malpractice,” added the governor’s office, “especially as the state rushed to vaccinate as many people as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for “60 Minutes” defended the story aired in the news magazine.
In a brief statement, the spokesperson focused specifically on the criticism ’60 Minutes’ received for failing to air part of a meeting DeSantis had with Alfonsi during a press conference in which he pointed out to her that CVS and Walgreens – under a federal program – were the first pharmacies in the state to distribute vaccines.
“As we always do for the sake of clarity, 60 Minutes used the portion of the governor’s answer of more than 2 minutes that answered the correspondent’s question directly,” the spokesman said.
The spokesperson also said the program asked for a real interview with DeSantis twice, but he declined.