News/Commentary

DeSantis slams media bias over missing coverage of Chicago measles outbreak

March 28, 2024 | | Print Article

Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took a swipe at the media on Wednesday over its biased coverage of measles outbreaks in America.

Earlier this month, the president of Planned Parenthood, Dr. Leanna Wen, stated in an op-ed for the Washington Post that “Florida’s measles outbreak is a devastating — and preventable — tragedy.”

“In Broward County, Fla., six students at a single elementary school recently became infected with measles. Two more cases of the highly infectious virus have been reported in the county,” Wen wrote. “Yet instead of following the well-established public health playbook to curb the outbreak, Florida surgeon general Joseph A. Ladapo has done the unthinkable: He told parents they could defy health guidance and continue sending unvaccinated kids exposed to measles to school.”

The Guardian claimed, “Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science.”

Now, in Chicago, 26 measles cases have been reported, according to 5 Chicago, “19 of which have been in children under 5.”

Fox 32 cites five additional cases and puts the total number of cases in the Windy City 31 since the outbreak began in early March.

According to the outlet, many of Chicago’s cases have been traced back to “a migrant shelter in Pilsen, where residents were urged to receive a second dose of the measles vaccine 28 days after the first shot, health officials said Monday.”

Compared to the coverage Florida’s outbreak received, the media has been largely silent about Chicago’s situation according to some users on X.

“So there are 30+ cases of measles tied to an illegal immigrant shelter in Chicago but I haven’t seen the same news coverage about this as the < 10 cases in Florida last month….” wrote Tampa Bay Young Republicans President Brittany Jean on X.

“Gee, I wonder why,” DeSantis shot back.

During a Wednesday press conference in Orlando, the governor addressed the issue further, calling the news coverage “phony.”

“There was a school in South Florida like two months ago that had ten cases of measles, and the whole corporate media was acting like this thing that was this thing that was unique to Florida,” DeSantis said. “They smeared our Surgeon General for putting out very well-thought-out, balanced guidance.”

“Flash forward, there was no additional outbreak, so his response was correct,” he continued. “Now, you see 30 cases in Chicago with illegal aliens. I don’t hear the same carping from the media. In fact, they’re not talking about it really very much at all.”

“So it just goes to show you the phony narratives that get put out all to drive an agenda,” DeSantis stated.

(Video: YouTube)

“The fact of the matter is they kind of whip it up and then when things go a different direction than what they were predicting, they just forget that it ever happened and then they just move on,” the governor said. “You see even more cases in these other areas and you don’t hear the same type of carping and I wonder why that is.”

Melissa Fine
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