Florida Gov Ron DeSantis claims ‘regime media’ wanted Hurricane Ian to hit Tampa
“They want to use storms and destruction from storms as a way to advance their agenda,” the governor said this week
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Florida governor Ron DeSantis has claimed that “regime media” wanted Hurricane Ian to strike Tampa as it would better “advance their agenda”.
A week after the category 4 hurricane struck, leaving more than 100 people dead and causing billions of dollars of damage, Mr DeSantis has continued to insist that all Floridians received a warning to evacuate in good time.
This included people in places such as Lee County, location of many of the deaths, and which issued an evacuation order a day after other areas.
Many had believed the storm would hit Tampa. As it was, Ian shifted south and delivered a devastating blow to Ft Myers Beach and Sanibel Island, both in Lee County.
Speaking to conservative media outlet Florida’s Voice, Mr DeSantis said he was fed up with the “pissing match” that he claimed was going on.
He was asked by Editor-in-Chief Brendon Leslie if the media ought to be “held accountable”, given it had been reporting that Tampa was likely to be hit.
“Quite frankly, you have national regime media that… wanted to see Tampa, because they thought that would be worse for Florida. That’s how these people think,” Mr DeSantis said. “They don’t care about the people of this state. They don’t care about the people of this community. They want to use storms and destruction from storms as a way to advance their agenda.”
He added: “And they don’t care what destruction’s in their wake. They don’t care about the lives here. If they can use it to pursue their political agenda, they will do it.”
Mr DeSantis, who has previously clashed with reporters from outlets such as CNN when he was pressed about his handling of the pandemic response, did not specify which outlets he was referring to.
He also provided no evidence to back up the claim that the media wanted to see Tampa struck, and his interviewer did not ask for it.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments