There's been no shortage of mainstream media outlets looking to go after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) leading up to and in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Among the latest trend is to blame not just DeSantis, but other Republicans. On Tuesday, Christopher Flavelle and Jonathan Weisman penned a piece for The New York Times, "Florida Leaders Rejected Major Climate Laws. Now They’re Seeking Storm Aid." It was one which NewsBusters' Kevin Tober aptly highlighted as "ghoulish."
Not only do Flavelle and Weisman engage in quite the blame game, their piece also highlights climate alarmism, another common trait of the mainstream media in light of Hurricane Ian.
CNN's Don Lemon tried that same trick last week on air when speaking to NOAA Acting Director Jamie Rohme. When Lemon pushed the climate change narrative, Rohme pointed out "I don’t think you can link climate change to any one event."
To begin with, Flavelle and Weisman go after Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, both Florida Republicans. The reason being is because the senators didn't vote in favor of the so-called infrastructure package in August of last year. Scott and Rubio, like every other Republican in both the Senate and House, voted against the misnamed "Inflation Reduction Act." DeSantis is also targeted in the piece as well, since he didn't want state pension funds factoring in climate change.
The climate alarmism, with a sense of righteousness definitiveness also picks up from there, as these Republicans "don’t want to discuss the underlying problem that is making hurricanes more powerful and destructive," and "none of the top Republicans in the state have supported legislation to curb the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change."
Flavelle and Weisman point to certain evidence while ganging up on Florida Republicans, when it comes to the oceans being warmer, for instance, but most of it's an obvious crusade against them.
"Yet the state’s leaders have long resisted what scientists say is needed to stave off a catastrophic future: an aggressive pivot away from gas, oil and coal, and toward solar, wind and other renewable energy sources," they claim further down.
While the piece is mostly about Scott and Rubio, DeSantis doesn't escape further mention. His past move as a congressman in 2013 to vote against a pork-filled relief package after Hurricane Sandy is referenced:
Mr. DeSantis’s record on other climate decisions may also come back to haunt him. As a congressman in 2013, he voted against a bill to provide extra disaster aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy — the same type of extra support that Florida is now seeking for Ian.
It's worth reminding that as Leah highlighted at the time, Matt Flegenheimer also wrote a piece for The New York Times, "DeSantis, Once a ‘No’ on Storm Aid, Petitions a President He’s Bashed." It was published last Thursday.
There's only the briefest mention of the reason why DeSantis voted against the "extraneous" package in 2013 in Flegenheimer's piece, and none in Flavelle and Weisman's most recent one.
To further highlight the shameless lengths the outlet will go to so as to politicize the hurricane, both articles are part of their "Midterms 2022 Daily Briefing" section.