Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) held a roundtable discussion around the topic of defamation in Hialeah Gardens.. The main point of the event was to consider the legacy media’s effect on regular people who look to post on stories before they can be confirmed or are taken out of context.
The discussion included prominent names (but were not limited to) such as Nicholas Sandmann (Covington Catholic High School Debacle) and Michael C. Moynihan.
Gov. DeSantis said at one point during the event that news corporations such as CNN used to be not only trusted but the gold standard in terms of fair journalism. In regards to Moynihan saying that narrative journalism is the new wave, and that the “facts be dammned.”
“Is that like there’s talk that CNN wants to reform itself and be kind of like the old CNN, because, if you think about it, when September 11th happened, most people went to CNN. Even the conservatives, they weren’t going to Fox, they were going to CNN and that was just viewed as the place to get news. That obviously has changed,” stated Gov. DeSantis.
The Florida Governor would then ask Sandmann if the moment he endured was the “most difficult period of his life.”
“I would say so,” said Sandmann. “That’s one of those things too, they kind of predetermined part of what the rest of my future is going to look like…But you know, you’ve also got to roll with the cards you’ve been given. And so, I’ve had to adapt around that and it’s presented problems with like getting into college and other things and it’s just one of the things you have to live with.”
DeSantis responded, “It just seems like to me if you were standing there and that guy, you know, pushed you over, you broke your arm, you would be able to sue and no one would say anything about that, it would be obvious, you’d be able to do it. But the damage you’ve suffered with your reputation was probably far more significant in your life than if you had just broken your arm that day.”
Watch the entire panel discussion below.
Gov. DeSantis Hosts Panel Discussion on Defamation https://t.co/UzFTcLjE6a
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 7, 2023
