Florida’s Top 5 Fake News Reporters for the Week of 2/13-2/20
Florida’s Conservative Voice Presents Florida’s Top 5 Fake News Reporters of the Week: Every week, FCV will rank the worst reporters covering Florida politics. Our team, and readers, have noticed a stark uptick of fake news “journalists” that are consistently lying or misleading the public on Florida affairs in politics, ranging from Governor Ron DeSantis to COVID-19. In an effort to promote more journalistic integrity, these individuals will be cited for their attempts to mislead the public.
February 22, 2021 Updated 11:14 A.M. ET
5. Lesley Abravanel (Freelance)
We felt the need to cover this because of the disgusting depths this ‘journalist’ sunk to in making a political point.
On February 14, 2018, a shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The anniversary of that shooting was last week, and Abravanel took it as an opportunity to bash Governor Ron DeSantis.
“In Gov DeSantis Florida, Guns are more welcome in school than LGBTQ youth,” the image said, harkening back to the left-wing dubbed “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” which is a parental rights in education bill.
Abravanel sent the image in response to DeSantis announcing the Capitol being lit up in honor of those lives lost in 2018:
Reporters are not supposed to be disgusting activists who use children’s graves to make political arguments.
4. Scott Maxwell (Orlando Sentinel)
Maxwell made it on our list for the second week in a row.
Referencing DeSantis’ insistence on tighter migration controls and deference to human, especially child, smuggling, Maxwell commented on DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw’s comments that Miami archbishop lied when he claimed DeSantis called children “disgusting.”
“The DeSantis troll team has gotten so used to dragging anyone who triggers them, they’re now beefing with Florida’s archbishop,” he said.
Yes: Pushaw has a duty to call out lies espoused against the Governor. DeSantis never said that children were disgusting. He said that equating Biden’s trafficking failure at the Southern with Operation Pedro Pan, an initiative to take in Cuban refugee children fleeing oppression, is disgusting.
Maxwell, a ‘journalist,’ seemingly did not take the time to watch a 30 second clip of DeSantis’ real remarks.
3. Mary Ellen Klas (Miami Herald)
In an article titled “Florida GOP in fonclifct, DeSantis’ redistricting expert doesn’t convince House panel,” Klas reports critically of the Republican effort to enact a final new redistricting map for the next decade.
What readers are not made aware of? Klas is effectively a Democrat adviser on redistricting when she was caught coaching Democrat Florida State Senator Randolph Bracy on how to increase their redistricting lawsuit chances.
Is this not a conflict of interest? Why is Klas being allowed to report objectively on this in an ‘esteemed’ paper like the Miami Herald?
Additionally, she included a fake paragraph that claimed that only four districts “could elect Black candidates” to Congress. Is she aware that just because the racial makeup of a district is not black does not mean it cannot elect a black candidate?
Klas should take a look into the 19th Florida Congressional District – a deeply Republican and not close to majority black district – which elected black Representative Byron Donalds.
2. The Miami Herald Editorial Board
We wonder why this article has no name behind it.
“On DeSantis’ warpath to the White House, Black Floridians are the targets,” the headline reads.
The article uses unrelated issues to claim he is racist, such as defending Joe Rogan in the cancel-culture movement, falsely claiming he did not ‘condemn’ Nazis (he called them “jackasses”), and citing an anti-rioting law proposed after Black Lives Matter instituted a summer of deadly, bloody, and costly riots.
The problem: none of these issues prove DeSantis is racist. Defending freedom of speech in Joe Rogan is not racist. Calling Nazis “jackasses” is certainly not racist. Proposing legislation to strengthen penalties and latitude against violent offenders and property rights violators is universal, not limited to race.
1. Shane Goldmacher and Erich Lipton (New York Times)
The fake story of the week is titled, “Selling Trump: A Profitable Post-Presidency Like No Other,” and we are focusing on the portion of the slanderous story which targets a Melania Trump foster children fundraiser in Naples, Florida.
In reference to an event organized with Access Vast known as Tulips & Topiaries, the Times claims that Trump is attempting to “pocket” funds raised for foster children and that she is running an illegal/unregistered charity.
“There was no indication of how much of the proceeds Mrs. Trump herself intended to pocket. Florida requires any organization that raises charitable contributions in the state to register. No charity with the name ‘Fostering the Future’ or ‘Be Best’ is registered in Florida,” it reads.
“Asked about the solicitation, officials at the Florida agency that oversees charitable fund-raising said they also could not find evidence of the required state registration and had opened an inquiry as a result.”
The funny part? The money is being given to the Bradley Impact Fund, which is a registered non-profit organization, which Trump announced in a statement. The Times’ so-called ‘investigation’ went so far as to asking whether “Be Best” or “Fostering the Future,” the name of Trump’s branding name for her efforts to help children, were registered in Florida officially.
