Tuesday’s CBS Mornings featured attempts at smear conservatives, revisionist history on electoral denialsm. But it also featured a hilarious segment in which Tony Dokoupil, co-host, traveled to Florida. Despite stopping at four different restaurants (with three airing), Dokoupil could not find one hater of Governor Ron DeSantis, (R-FL), or open supporter of his opponent, Congressman Charlie Crist, (D-FL).
The meals in this series are always delicious, but Dokoupil teased the outcome by showing a segment from Florida on DeSantis’s COVID-19 response. It had a similar result.
Dokoupil began the segment on Florida with the fact that it has trended red since being “once” the nation’s foremost swing state. He also mentioned the fact that Enriqueta’s, a Cuban sandwich and coffee shop located in Miami, was his first top. Justin Kaplan, a patron of DeSantis, was his closest competitor.
“I didn’t vote for him the first vote, and I won’t vote for them again.” I still believe he has been unfairly denigrated. Kaplan stated that the national narrative, and especially the narrative from outside Florida, is not consistent with what is actually happening down here.
Dokoupil reminded viewers via patron Dayami Martquez that there were “a million Cuban Americans around Miami” and that “[t]here’s a difference between Cuban and Latino voters.”
Marquez said that DeSantis was “a beast” in “the manner he does everything.” I believe in legal immigration. I don’t believe that illegal immigration is acceptable.”
Dokoupil made his second attempt along Florida’s Space Coast, stopping at Melbourne’s Pub Amerciana. Dokoupil met Dave Hoban, who stated that his main concern is ensuring “we have our freedoms” and preventing “wokeness from being forced down…people’s throats”.
The most hilarious moment was when he stopped by young independents Katherine Graham (click “expand”)
DOKOUPIL – [W]e heard two women from across the room that they thought might be Democrat, particularly on the topic of abortion.
GRAHAM: Women should be able to choose what they want.
FRYER: It’s not mine to tell someone what to do.
DOKOUPIL – But Katherine Graham and Tomi Friyer, both registered independents like what Ron DeSantis has to offer on almost every issue.
FRYER: He’s just like, on it. Especially with how he handled COVID —
GRAHAM: Yeah.
FRYER — That was a major contributing factor.
GRAHAM: It just feels like he is very family-oriented. He cares about people, you know. He doesn’t like you, he doesn’t BS around.
Crist, strike two!
Dokoupil drove up to Jacksonville for dinner, hoping to find a Crist voter in Duval County, which was “flipped blue” in 2020.
However, inside Treemendous BBQ he found concerns about the economy front and center with Terry Rountree’s 2024 choice over Donald Trump (click “expand”)
DOKOUPIL – It’s where Terry Rountree, the owner of Treemendous BBQ, was found. [TO ROUNTREE] How’s it going? We are grateful for your presence.
ROUNTREE: We are grateful.
DOKOUPIL: A company that recently had to make some adjustments. [TO ROUNTREE] Rising cost of operation. What’s the deal?
ROUNTREE: Is it possible to say Biden?
DOKOUPIL: You can express whatever you want.
ROUNTREE : It wasn’t like that when Trump was President.
(….)
DOKOUPIL: There was also a side of nostalgia from Terry’s brother Ricky and Daniel Quinn as they talked about DeSantis’s fight against so-called woke left.
DANIEL QIN: Before, we didn’t have to think about what we said. Now, you have to really think about it before you speak it.
ROUNTREE: It’s a free country. It says that we have freedom of speech. Why can’t you speak what you want?
DOKOUPIL: It is clear that Democrats have a lot of work ahead of them, not just in 2022. Terry Rountree likes Ron DeSantis as Governor and beyond. [TO ROUNTREE] Do YOU like him for 2024?”
ROUNTREE: In The White House
DOKOUPIL: Yeah?
ROUNTREE: Absolutely.
DOKOUPIL: Really?
ROUNTREE: Absolutely.
DOKOUPIL: Compared to other Florida residents?
ROUNTREE: Absolutely.
DOKOUPIL: Really?
ROUNTREE: Absolutely.
Dokoupil announced that he could not find any DeSantis supporters despite stopping at a fourth diner that didn’t air, where he couldn’t find a Crist voter.
“[O]nce our stomachs started to digest our food and the day passed, we realized that we had spoken to dozens of people along the Coast of Florida on that long-distance trip. They were all precincts based on the fact that they voted for President Biden in 2020. We were surprised to find that we didn’t meet Ron DeSantis, the Democratic opponent,” he explained.
To ensure that Crist voters were heard, he attended a lowly Crist event to interview four black female Democrats. One claimed that DeSantis had “stole[n] [our freedom]” as Floridians.
Gayle King, co-host and Democratic donor, was shocked:
It was interesting to learn about Ron DeSantis voters. You go from one end to the other, and although I know you were looking, there were no Charlie Chris supporters at a Charlie Crist rally. It was really so difficult?
Dokoupil admitted that “it was really that difficult” and that he “stood at the stop sign and flagged every car to ask the driver if they were supporting the governor from Tampa.” But he couldn’t find anyone who would back the turncoat former governor.
Going to break, Dokoipil acknowledged that “it speaks to the fact Ron DeSantis has, in the past four years, just barely winning governorship and 2018, done a really solid job of consolidating support.”
Click here to see the relevant transcript starting November 8.
