There has been no greater tool than Twitter for exposing the general ignorance and slavish devotion to groupthink from which so many members of the press suffer.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis revealed this week that Russian operatives had successfully hacked voter databases in the Sunshine State during the 2016 presidential election.
“I recently met with the FBI concerning the election issue mentioned in [special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation],” DeSantis said. “Two Florida counties experienced intrusion into the supervisor of election networks. There was no manipulation.”
From these remarks, journalists and pundits claimed vindication on behalf of failed Democratic Senate candidate Bill Nelson, who had claimed, without evidence, that the Russians meddled in Florida’s 2018 midterm elections. There still is no proof to bear out Nelson’s claim (none that he has provided anyway). But you would think otherwise from watching how certain reporters and political commentators responded this week to DeSantis’ remarks.
“Bill Nelson wasn’t making things up when he said Russians hacked Florida election systems,” tweeted Huffington Post reporter Sam Levin.
The Daily Beast’s Sam Stein added, “Bill Nelson got hosed.”
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., “still suggests Bill Nelson had it wrong when he said during 2018 campaign that Florida voting systems had been hacked,” NPR’s Greg Allen tweeted Thursday. “That follows his briefing by FBI that two Florida counties had indeed been hacked.
“How can FL and others, remedy security gaps, if we don’t know what the hell happened? Did it change voting results? Did it change any election results? Has anyone apologized to Bill Nelson?” asked CNN’s commentator Ana Navarro-Cardenas.
There are additional examples, including MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, CNN’s Keith Boykin, New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait, etc., of members of the news media amplifying the notion that DeSantis’ revelation this week somehow vindicates Nelson.
To be clear, Florida’s Republican governor confirmed there was meddling in the 2016 election — the presidential election. Nelson had alleged, without evidence, that the Russians interfered in the 2018 elections. Nelson said specifically on Aug. 7, 2018, that “the Russians are in Florida’s records.”
The Tampa Bay Times’ Kirby Wilson explicitly asked the Democratic candidate a day later: “Do you mean right now, or were you referring to 2016?”
Nelson replied: “Right now.”
He also said during the election, “It would be foolish to think that the Russians are not continuing to do what they did in Florida in 2016.”
Nelson was criticized at the time not for saying the Russians meddled in 2016 — which was already widely reported on and generally accepted at the time — but for claiming, without evidence, they were interfering in the 2018 elections as well.
The Washington Free Beacon’s Alex Griswold, who first flagged journalists’ and pundits’ pro-Nelson defenses this week, also makes a good point: “I suppose it’s possible Nelson might be vindicated by future disclosures, but right now the victory lap is premature. In any case, if Nelson’s claim is ever vindicated, that means he’s only guilty of leaking classified information to sway an election, so … good for him I guess?”
How reporters and political commentators concluded that this week’s revelations vindicate what Nelson claimed about the 2018 midterm elections is anyone’s guess. It probably has something to do with a failure to read past the headlines.
