CNN reporters blasted for using Hurricane Ian to attack Ron DeSantis: 'This is undiluted partisan hackery'
From WWW.THEBLAZE.COM
There was stern backlash to CNN reporters accused of politicizing Hurricane Ian to attack Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Reactions on Twitter blasted the CNN reporters for "undiluted partisan hackery."
Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon with devastating winds of 155 mph – just 2 mph shy of a Category 5 hurricane. Ian made landfall near Fort Myers and Cape Coral with catastrophic winds, a dangerous storm surge, and heavy rain. More than 2 million Floridians are without power. A large portion of the Sanibel Causeway – which connects the barrier island of Sanibel to mainland Florida – collapsed and fell into the San Carlos Bay that flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
On Thursday, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told "Good Morning America" that estimated fatalities were "in the hundreds," based on 911 emergency phone calls.
DeSantis clarified the sheriff's statement by saying the number was an "estimate" and that there are two "unconfirmed" deaths, but authorities are unsure if the fatalities were related to the historic storm.
The Republican governor of Florida said that 28 large helicopters from the National Guard and the Coast Guard are performing active rescue missions.
DeSantis said, "The Coast Guard has been performing rescue missions on the barrier islands consistently since the wee hours of the morning."
CNN reporter Steve Contorno used the treacherous hurricane to disparage DeSantis.
Contorno compared DeSantis encouraging Floridians to listen to local officials regarding hurricane preparations and evacuations to the governor previously advising residents to listen to state guidelines about COVID-19 pandemic instead of guidance from local government.
"As DeSantis prepares Floridians for Ian, he is urging residents to heed advice from the same local leaders he suggested they ignore during COVID and praising a federal agency he previously alleged withheld aid to the state because Biden was playing politics," Contorno said on Twitter.
CNN senior reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere retweeted Contorno and added, "Hurricanes & politics tend to run into each other in Florida, but this time it’s with a governor who has put himself at odds with many local government officials and who has been looking for fights with a president he may end up running against… 6 weeks before Election Day."
CNN anchor Kasie Hunt also shared the tweet and wrote, "A major test for this 2024 likely presidential hopeful."
The CNN reporters were slammed on Twitter for allegedly politicizing the devastating hurricane to attack DeSantis.... (Read more)
Tweets mentioned:
https://twitter.com/scontorno/status/1575085785472151552
https://twitter.com/IsaacDovere/status/1575125106539520007
https://twitter.com/kasie/status/1575140008499068928
Submitted 571 days ago
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