>> Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida has been a complete disaster when it comes to
responding to coronavirus.
As we know, the state of Florida is really struggling with a surge of coronavirus cases.
That's been the case for a while now.
And there are more and more people dying as a result of the rapid spread of this virus.
This was something that Ron DeSantis refused to take seriously from the get-go.
And so now, all of a sudden, we're hearing that Ron DeSantis would like some help from
the federal government, in coping with coronavirus.
Now, let me be clear about something, I care about people's lives.
And so for me, this is not a red state, blue state issue.
I wish that the state of Florida actually had competent leadership, and I wish that
this country had competent leadership.
Unfortunately, that's not the case.
But if there's anything that can be done on a federal level to save more people's lives,
we absolutely should do it.
So, I am not against, the state of Florida getting any type of funding it needs to keep
people healthy, safe, and alive.
But what I do find absolutely disgusting, is how Ron DeSantis is one of these right
wing politicians, who has allowed for all of these people to get sick, needlessly.
And now, he's turning around and demanding help.
So, according to Politico, DeSantis said the state will need help covering costs associated
with the coronavirus outbreak.
Expressing confidence that the federal government will help pick up the tab for increased Medicaid
outlays.
The coronavirus outbreak and the ensuing job losses are expected to boost Florida's Medicaid
enrollment by 570,000 people, more than the state legislators had estimated, increasing
the program's cost by $1.6 billion this fiscal year.
The federal stimulus package that covers the increased enrollment expires in December,
after which the state will be left to pick up the cost.
So, again, I'm just, I'm not surprised that he's now asking for help.
But, let's just remember what we heard from Republican lawmakers when it came to providing
economic relief to various states.
There was this argument that, no, no, the states don't need help.
They're only asking for help because they're mismanaged.
Now, of course, they're talking about blue states like California, right?
Because these are states that typically have better, social safety net programs than red
states do.
But now I'm very curious to see how they handle the mismanagement of Ron DeSantis.
Real quick, here's a refresher of what Republican candidates had previously said.
>> The Democrats amazingly don't wanna do it.
We offered them short-term deals and we offered them lots of alternatives, but so far, the
only thing they really wanna do is bailout states that have been poorly managed by Democrats.
>> The Democrats, they're just trying to just ram through, fake, phony, harmful legislation
like the Green New Deal.
They want bailouts for their friends and poorly managed states that are just wasting these
resources, the American tax dollars.
>> The President is very clear.
We're looking to help states, but we're not bailing out state's finances.
>> We're bailing out liberal politicians who cannot live within their means.
And now we are asking Floridians to pay for the incompetency of governors like Andrew
Cuomo.
We can't give hard earned taxpayer money to poorly managed states.
They're going to turn around and spend it on their liberal priorities, and to backfill
their budget shortfalls, and solve their long-standing fiscal problems.
>> So who you just heard from was Rick Scott, who was the former Governor of Florida, and
now is a Senator from the state of Florida.
And he had a lot of strong thoughts about the mismanagement of various states.
So I'm curious to hear what he thinks about Ron DeSantis, the current Governor of Florida,
asking for help from the federal government because of his own mismanagement?
>> Yeah, and I'm glad that you pointed out that it was basically all of the Republicans
were making that point.
That because the coronavirus initially hit blue states, they got to laugh basically that
it was just affecting them.
We're not gonna help them, and what do you know?
Then it spread to a bunch of red states.
Including in Florida where DeSantis had been, doing a victory dance for the first couple
of months, while not knowing how to put on a mask and pretending it's not a serious issue.
And then, what do you know?
Florida is one of the biggest hotspots in the entire world?
People are dying daily.
And the thing about watching all of them make that case about the mismanagement, is that
not a single one of those people is going to say, oops, I made a mistake, I should have
been more compassionate.
Now I do think that Florida needs the aid.
They'll support the aid, but they'll never actually admit that they were wrong.
Because, you're never wrong, in media generally, but especially right wing media, you can literally
say whatever you want, and it doesn't matter.
It doesn't have to make any sense.
It doesn't have to be consistent.
And it's so frustrating to see that it's the media, but it's also the elected Republicans.
It is a party of crazy liars, effectively.
They're gonna have the QAnon, a person just won a primary yesterday that's gonna be joining
them soon, gonna fit right in.
They can say whatever they want and and all of it just provides a bit of distraction so
they can get more tax cuts and Trump can continue bungling the coronavirus response.
And all of it, it's one thing to point out that they're lying and all of that, but it's
effectively like it's just a personality cult at this point.
For Donald Trump a death cult, I mean, 1,300 people died in the last daily report that
I saw.
That's the same as died like three or four months ago.
There's been no improvement, we're backsliding so significantly, and it doesn't matter.
None of them are gonna lose their jobs in media.
None of them are going to lose their seats.
Ron DeSantis is gonna end up getting reelected.
Trump is still doing fairly well in the election.
Why doesn't anything matter?
Why doesn't being wrong ever, ever, ever matter?
>> Yeah, I mean, I think that there are multiple factors.
And one of the issues is that media has become like hyperspecialized.
And so with the way algorithms are set up on social media, you're exposed to a very
specific bias based on what you've read and what you've been interested in watching.
Those algorithms learn your behavior and then they just continue spitting out content that
reinforces what you already believe.
So, your own views never get challenged unless you make a real effort to listen to perspectives
that differ from your own.
That's why even now, even though it makes me sick every time I do this, I make an effort
to hear what conservatives are saying.
What are their arguments?
And it's good to know what their arguments are, because very rarely they might have a
point.
But that's rare, honestly.
And you should investigate what they're saying cuz they might have a good point.
But more often than not, in the process of investigating what their claims are, you become
better prepared to support and defend where you stand on the issues.
But here's the thing, most Americans don't have time for that.
And there needs to be a real discussion about media literacy, media consumption.
I don't even know how to tackle it at this point, because there are moneyed interests
that play a huge role in how social media operates.
So, I think that's a huge problem.
And, yeah, I think that there's this culture on the right of owning the libs.
Well, they're really just owning themselves, they're finding themselves in terrible economic
crises.
They're seeing their own family members die from a virus that they did not need to die
from.
And it's all because of their avid support for someone who does not care about them,
never has, and never will.