The report, by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, suggested that there was a possible link between the donation and the state partnership with Publix stores for vaccine distribution – a serious crime problem, if true.
But in addition to highlighting public finance records, “60 Minutes” never offered any substantive evidence to support the significant statement and link the donation to the partnership.
After the report aired, the Democratic director of the Florida Emergency Management Division and the Democratic mayor of Palm Beach County responded publicly, saying the partnership with Publix was not suggested by anyone in DeSantis’ office.
In a Sunday night tweet addressed to “60 Minutes”, Jared Moskowitz, Director of the Florida Emergency Management Division, wrote: “I said this before and will say it again. [Publix] was recommended by [Florida Division of Emergency Management] and [Florida Department of Public Health]. Time course! Full stop!”
“Nobody in the governor’s office suggested Publix,” added Moskowitz. “It is simply absolute nonsense.”
Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner offered a similar sentiment in a statement on Monday.
“I watched the 60-minute segment in Palm Beach County last night and I feel compelled to make this statement,” said Kerner.
Kerner accused “60 Minutes” of reporting “intentionally false” information, saying that the program knew that DeSantis had met with him and that the county had been the entity requesting “the expansion of the state’s partnership with Publix”.
Publix also released a note criticizing the claim, but the supermarket chain did not mention “60 Minutes” by name.
“The irresponsible suggestion that there was a connection between campaign contributions made to Governor DeSantis and our willingness to join other pharmacies in support of the state’s vaccine distribution efforts is absolutely false and offensive,” Publix said on Monday. .
In a statement on Monday afternoon, DeSantis’s office said, “Florida partnered with Publix because they were ready to administer the vaccine in their pharmacies in a matter of days, while other pharmacies were not ready.”
“Not using this partnership with Publix as soon as possible would be bad practice,” added the governor’s office, “especially since the state was rushing to vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.”
A spokesman for “60 Minutes” defended the story carried by the magazine.
In a brief statement, the spokeswoman specifically focused on the “60 Minutes” criticism received for failing to disclose a portion of a DeSantis meeting with Alfonsi at a press conference in which he pointed out to her that CVS and Walgreens – under a program federal – were the first pharmacies in the state to distribute vaccines.
“As we always do for the sake of clarity, 60 Minutes used the part of the more than 2-minute response from the governor that directly addressed the correspondent’s issue,” said the spokesman.
The spokesman also said the program had asked for a real interview with DeSantis twice, but he declined.