By Curtis Houck
Editor’s Note: All major 2024 candidates polling above one percent nationally across the spectrum — Republicans, independents, and Democrats — have been invited to participate in similar sit-downs. Our offers remain on the table.
This week, Media Research Center Founder and President L. Brent Bozell spoke with 2024 Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis about a whole host of issues and, naturally, it included exchanges about the repeated, years-long barrages of attacks from the liberal media.
Bozell began by noting the MRC has “monitored how they’ve treated you and how they’ve treated all the Republican candidates” and, while “all the focus is always on — on how awful they are to Donald Trump,” “[t]hey’re just about just as awful with you.”
Bozell cited an August NewsBusters study by our Rich Noyes on 2024 coverage from the network evening newscasts on ABC, CBS, and NBC that “78 percent of the coverage of you has been negative” before asking how that’s “not election interference when the networks are deliberately trying to derail Republicans.”
DeSantis didn’t hesitate in emphasizing that “there’s no question that they have…a partisan agenda…trying to advance a victory for the Democratic Party” that “you guys have pointed this out…for a number of years.”
He added why the liberal media have “been so negative on me is because they do see all the success that we’ve had in Florida” and fear the possibility that, if elected president, his “model from Florida” could be “implemented nationally” and deal a huge blow “to their friends on the political left.”
DeSantis went onto relay something he’s noticed from the campaign trail, which was the fact that he’s been able to see how “the only thing” some voters “knew about me was corporate media,” but, when they actually hear from and meet him, their takeaways have been “so radically different”.
Later in the interview, Bozell asked him “how difficult is it” to face the press on a consistent basis and realize that, “when you are doing a press conference and all the media are there and you know you’re either going to be censored, you’re not going to put the story up, or if they do, they’re going to attack” and “not…give you a fair shot.”
DeSantis argued “this isn’t anything new for me” with the attacks during the pandemic having been “terrible.”
That said, he argued, the good news has been that “more and more people, partially cause of work that — that you’ve done and others on the conservative side to expose this…they don’t instinctively trust any of these media narratives anymore” and “realize that they’re trying to sell them a bill of goods”.
“[W]e’re happy to get out there and mix it up. And I think that’s just what you have to do. You know — you know it’s going to be unfair. But that’s fine. Life’s not fair. Power through it and make sure that you have the better argument,” he added.
Known for his massive beatdowns in exchanges with liberal journalists, DeSantis revealed that, “[w]hen they’re doing fake narratives, it’s actually easy to beat down those narratives.”
DeSantis wrapped by highlighting what he believes separates himself in this race:
I do think it’s important to have a president who can go toe-to-toe with these folks who, when they are doing the fake narratives, is going to be able to fight back, but fight back with facts and precision in a way that will actually get people to — to take your side[.]
Bozell reacted with effusive praise:
“Of all the candidates out there and perhaps even all public figures out there today when it comes to dealing with vicious attacks from the media and doing it on the spot, I really don’t think there’s anyone who’s better than you are…It’s extraordinary.”
Editor’s note. This appeared at Newsbusters and reposted with permission.