Newsweek decided to story up a pop star's sardonic comments about Florida's Governor, but the official spokesperson for Ron DeSantis isn't happy with the framing.
"Zero journalistic integrity: got this email today. The article was already out. Newsweek's standard operating procedure is to publish a story without comment, reach out, and then update later. So, all of the people who read the article when it first runs only get Newsweek's leftist bias without any balance. Remember this when you read anything from Newsweek," advised Bryan Griffin on X.
Griffin posted an email to that effect from Billie Schwab Dunn, a pop culture reporter for Newsweek based in the United Kingdom, trying to get the Governor's "thoughts on the shout out" from Rolling Stones' vocalist Mick Jagger during Monday night's concert in Orlando.
The story was published before Griffin got the request for comment on Jagger's allusion to the previous conflict between the Governor and the The Walt Disney Co., however, which caused him to paint it black rather than offer the reporter an emotional rescue.
This is perhaps especially true because the reporter referred to the Governor as "Ron," which struck Griffin as overly familiar.
For what it's worth, the quote was bland by comparison to some celebrities' ruminations on DeSantis over the years.
"We have some great local celebrities that have come tonight. Tiger Woods is here, for instance. Joey Fatone is here," Jagger said, per Newsweek. "And Ron DeSantis is up there in the suite. He's having a date night with Mickey Mouse. I'm so glad they finally made up."
There was a bit of truth to Jagger's suggestion of rapprochement now that the Parental Rights in Education law is in the rearview mirror, meanwhile, with a new development deal potentially leading to another Disney theme park in Central Florida.
To be sure, that's probably more of a win/win than the option the Governor floated at the height of the feud with the entertainment giant.
DeSantis joked about potentially punitive options in the 40 square miles that make up the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
"People are like, well, 'What should we do with this land? Maybe create a state park? Maybe try to do more amusement parks,'" DeSantis said. "Somebody even said, 'Maybe you need another state prison?' Who knows? I just think that the possibilities are endless, and so that is now going to be analyzed to see what would make the most sense."
Meanwhile, it's worth noting that Jagger makes a habit of tweaking red state Governors when playing in their states.
In Louisiana, after a rendition of "You Can't Always Get What You Want," Jagger talked about "inclusion" and how that extended to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry.
"We want to include him too. Even if he wants to take us back to the Stone Age," the 80-year-old singer said.
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Gabrielle Russon of Florida Politics and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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