Maggie Astor and Maggie Mazzei, New York Times reporters, reported Monday evening’s only debate in Florida’s governor’s race. They matched Republican Ron DeSantis with Democrat Charlie Crist.
The reporters spread misinformation about abortion and transgender issues under the guise Ron DeSantis was fighting.
They even questioned the impartiality of the moderator (dimissed as “working with the referees” when done conservatively) and pointed out the moderator’s connection to Sinclair. Sinclair is a television news conglomerate (regularly target by the Times) that doesn’t follow traditional liberal media wisdom.
WPEC’s Liz Quirantes, the moderator, struggled to keep the Fort Pierce audience quiet. They cheered, jeered, applauded and interrupted the exchanges. Some of Ms. Quirantes’s questions, which she claimed were from viewers, seemed to be leading candidates towards conservative views. WPEC is a CBS affiliate that is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
They tried to make Crist’s absurd assertions that DeSantis “ignored Science” by defying liberal lusts for lockdowns at the height of Covid crisis.
Worse, Mazzei & Astor falsely accused DeSantis defrauding them of making “false and misleading claims” about abortion.
Later, when Mr. DeSantis was asked if abortion should be prohibited after a certain week of pregnancy, he made a number false or misleading statements.
He said that Mr. Crist supported abortion “up to the moment of delivery.” This is a common Republican claim. However, abortion up until the moment birth does not exist in any state, even those without gestational limits. He also claimed that Mr. Crist supported “dismemberment abortions,” which is a derogatory term for abortions performed later in pregnancy. These procedures are often triggered by severe fetal abnormalities or medical emergencies. (More that 92 percent of abortions in America are performed in the first trimester.
As the Times has subliminally admitted, abortion up to the moment that the baby is born, also known as “late-term” or partial-birth abortions, and “dismemberment” abortions, do actually occur in the United States. DeSantis must acknowledge that this fact is neither false nor misleading.
Crist was also a Democratic co-sponsor of the “Women’s Health Protection Act,” a bill that would allow health care providers to offer abortion services without restrictions or requirements.
DeSantis has used issues such as race and transgender rights more than any other sitting governor to rally his conservative base.
This was displayed in Monday’s debate. He gave a graphic description of gender-affirming treatment for transgender children. He also suggested that doctors were “mutilating minors.” Gender-affirming care, which major medical associations, including pediatric ones, endorse, primarily involves social support, nonpermanent treatment like puberty blockers (which Mr. DeSantis also decried) and hormonal treatments.
“Primarily” means that you are doing a lot of work in this paragraph. There is no evidence to suggest that puberty blocksers have permanent effects. Furthermore, there are sad examples of minors who believe they are being transgender compelled into having surgery in the United States.
