Fox News was the only news outlet allowed to cover Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of a controversial election-administration bill
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Only Fox News was able to cover Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of Senate Bill 90, a controversial GOP-backed bill that will make major changes to voting and election administration.
Thursday’s bill signing took place at the Airport Hilton in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Reporters from local and national outlets who showed up to cover the event were turned away, and told that Fox News would be exclusively covering the bill signing. The event was aired solely on “Fox & Friends,” while all other TV cameras were banned, according to media outlets on the ground.
“FOX & Friends did not request or mandate that the May 6th event and/or interview with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) be exclusive to FOX News Media entities,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement to Insider.
This exclusion of news outlets stands in stark contrast to Florida’s commitment to government transparency and its expansive open-records Sunshine Laws.
Prior to signing the bill, the “Fox & Friends” hosts asked DeSantis about topics including Caitlyn Jenner’s gubernatorial campaign in California and touted his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was flanked by a crowd behind him who cheered at his answers to the hosts’ questions and their praise of Florida’s COVID-19 policies.
CBS12 was slated to be on scene to feed video footage of the bill signing to stations nationwide, but its crew was stopped from entering the event.
Amy Gardner of The Washington Post said it wasn’t immediately clear to her whether the bill signing was an official gubernatorial event or a campaign event.
The Florida Sun Sentinel’s Steve Bousquet posted photos of DeSantis campaign stickers being handed out to attendees.
Reporters had to peer inside the building to see what was going on.
DeSantis eventually left the event without taking questions from the press outside.
The voting law that DeSantis signed, Senate Bill 90, adds new restrictions on ballot drop boxes, requires voters to apply for mail ballots more frequently, bans election officials from accepting private grants to fund elections, and expands the zone outside polling places where the solicitation of votes is prohibited.
Jake Lahut contributed reporting.