Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the media Monday for allegedly lying about his intention to attend the White House Correspondents’ dinner.
A reporter asked the governor if he had a reaction to the debate over whether he intended to attend the dinner that took place Saturday in Washington D.C.
“I would never attend that, I have no interest in that. I did not watch it, I don’t care what they do,” DeSantis said. “But for them to advertise me when that invitation was rejected by my office, that is a lie. And so here they are saying how important they are, that they’re somehow these paragons of truth, and yet there they are lying about something that is readily verifiable.”
“So the idea that I was there is false, the idea that I would’ve ever gone is false and why they would want to try to perpetuate a lie about that, I don’t know,” he continued. “But I think it just shows you why that cabal of people in D.C. and New York are so reviled by so many Americans, I think it’s a reputation that’s been well deserved.”
DeSantis on the #WHCD🔥: “I would never attend that….I don’t care what they do, but for them to advertise me when that invitation was rejected…that is a lie…It just shows you why that cabal of people in D.C., New York are so reviled[.]” pic.twitter.com/OOSOFsiOqB
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 2, 2022
The event’s program listed DeSantis as an expected attendee assigned to sit with Fox News employees. His press secretary, Christina Pushaw, pushed back, saying he did not attend. Comedian Trevor Noah claimed the governor was present at the dinner. (RELATED: ‘Where Is That Coming From?’: Gov. DeSantis Pushes Back After Reporter Confronts Him Over So-Called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill)
Noah took shots at the governor, including for not disclosing whether he received the booster shot.
“Trump said he won the election but everyone was just able to look at the numbers and see that he was wrong,” Noah said. “That’s why Ron DeSantis is one step ahead — first you ban the math textbooks, then nobody knows how to count the votes.”
The Florida Department of Education rejected 41% of math textbooks proposed by publishers for allegedly containing “indoctrinating concepts” that violate the state’s curriculum. DeSantis’ office released examples of critical race theory in the textbook, with one excerpt showing a graph measuring racial bias by political identification.