The NY Times’ epic fail in trying to tarnish DeSantis’ COVID record

The New York Times is desperate to tarnish Gov. Ron DeSantis’ impressive COVID record, but a monster “report” it ran this weekend meant to do that accidentally wound up highlighting his success instead.

The paper dispatched three separate reporters to spend “weeks,” it said, poring over COVID data for the more than 4,000-word opus.

Clearly, it sees the gov as a looming threat to Democrats’ chances of holding the White House.

(The paper would like nothing more than for President Donald Trump to win the GOP nomination, to give Biden the best shot at keeping his job.)

Yet strip out the piece’s lame anti-DeSantis snipes and you’re left with a stunning fact: Overall, [Florida’s] death rate during the pandemic, adjusted for age, ended up better than the national average, the Times itself admits.

It also credits the gov with having “moved quickly to get students back in the classroom,” acknowledging that research shows “there was less learning loss in school districts with more in-person instruction.”

And though it faults DeSantis for lifting lockdown orders — claiming, without evidence, they could’ve saved lives — it glosses over the fact that Florida’s economy recovered faster than most other states.

(Despite the paper’s rabid love of lockdowns, evidence shows that in hindsight, they actually did enormous damage.)

So not only did the Sunshine State see lower COVID death rates; it also fared better economically — and its kids suffered less learning loss. There’s a reason (or three) hundreds of thousands of people from places like New York fled to Florida during COVID.

Talk about a smear-job backfiring!

The Times’ biggest gripe: DeSantis’ enthusiasm for vaccines eventually faded.

Yet what sensible American didn’t sour on them, at least somewhat, after it became clear they were oversold?

• They failed to stop infections or the virus’ spread.
• They were not absolutely necessary for the vast majority of very young children.
• They came with (admittedly small) risks that vax-pushers completely dismissed.

Overall, vaccines proved extremely valuable. Yet what DeSantis mostly objected to wasn’t the vax but the mandates to get it: As the Times notes, he fought early on to get elderly people (the most at risk) jabbed quickly, ordering officials to “get those numbers up.”

The paper also faults the governor for slamming its top COVID gods, like Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Yet these “experts” did intentionally mislead the public — on everything from masks to the vaccine to the virus’ origins.

The Times may think it delivered a blow to DeSantis’ COVID bona fides, but if it keeps running “attacks” on him like this one, it’s liable to make him president.