Ron DeSantis now refers to reporters as Andrew Gillum’s ‘Fake News allies’

Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis is now referring to reporters as his opponent’s “Fake News allies,” because, well, they’re doing what they’re supposed to do.

In a Friday fundraising email sent to supporters, the Florida Republican stated that Democrat Andrew Gillum and his “Fake News allies” are “pouring over our end-of-quarter report for the last 12 days looking for any weakness they can exploit in the final days of the election.” (Ed. note: that’s spelled “poring,” Ron.)

Well, yeah. Poring over how a candidate spends money and who gives them money is a big part of the job description of a politics reporter.

Last week DeSantis posted his biggest fundraising haul yet, with more than $8 million in total donations, which is obviously something worth looking into. He also spent a considerable amount of cash on attack ads, and is the first Florida gubernatorial candidate to run such ads in the strike zone of a hurricane while the storm is happening. This is also worth looking into.

Besides financials, there’s still plenty we don’t know about DeSantis. For instance, he still hasn’t released a healthcare plan, which is one of the most important statewide issues going into November. Will he protect people with pre-existing conditions? Who knows. In fact, most of his platform, besides being Trump’s guy, is a giant blank slate. 

If a candidate won’t answer basic questions, then a good way to see which way the wind is blowing is by looking at their bank account. So, I encourage you to pore over both candidates’ financials yourself.

Gillum’s PAC can be found here, and DeSantis’ is here.  Now we’re all “Fake News allies.”

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This article appears in Oct 10-16, 2018.