Thread by @DrewHolden360

🧵Thread🧵

Today @bradyleonard & I agreed the 2020 man of the year is @RonDeSantisFL for his leadership in response to COVID, despite endless attacks from the media.

To add some context, I’ve put those attacks side by side with coverage of @NYGovCuomo.

Spot the difference?👇

As of today, NY’s deaths per 100k from coronavirus (188) is about double Florida’s (96). Florida and Gov. DeSantis seem to be doing something right in that regard.

But you would have no idea that was the case if you spend your days listening/watching/reading @MSNBC

The worst offender had to be @CNN, which is no surprise given Cuomo’s brother works there.

But I mean. Cmon guys. This is egregious.

Also very interesting the ways that @CNN chooses to humanize (or not) each governor’s response.

Truth be told, this entire thread could’ve focused just on @CNN.

Honestly I think this side by side sums it all up.

Both of these stories from @nytimes bill themselves as straight reporting.

Okay.

I just. I’m not sure what we’re doing here @washingtonpost.

These two from @NPR also capture the situation perfectly.

DeSantis gets fact-checked. Cuomo gets an Emmy.

I don’t even know what universe I’m living in anymore. @politico

I’ll pause here to drive the point home: by the most critical metric, deaths per capita, DeSantis has outperformed Cuomo enormously. Cuomo’s led one of the most disastrous crisis responses in US history.

If NY were a country it’d have the highest death per capita IN THE WORLD.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Here’s @Slate - God bless them - who compared the governors they thought did the best and worst.

I think the headlines say it all.

@CNBC found a way to shoehorn in criticism of DeSantis in their reporting of a separate issue.

For Cuomo, they’ve got a nonstop feed for his pressers (this was just a small sample of all of the tweets).

About two-thirds of these comments started out as just “oh ffs” and this one from @DEADLINE sums up why.

I wonder if @Salon will revisit this first piece, because that Florida model was revised shortly thereafter and eventually proved entirely inaccurate.

Cuomo, on the other hand, gets elevated to some sort of religious icon.

@RollingStone has gone from a reputable national outlet to a low-budget political operation in record time. More on this first line of attack later.

I can always count on @VanityFair to act in bad faith.

Speaking of bad faith, the podcast bros over at @crookedmedia are doing more of the same.

@HuffPost really working overtime here huh.

For context, of the 300,000 people who have died from coronavirus, fewer than 600 of them are under 25.

And overseas media got involved too. Here’s @guardian with a side by side that brings home the difference in perception among our moral betters in the media.

Again, Cuomo has presided over a deaths per capita rate that’s almost double!

And speaking of double, we’ll double up, because @guardian had a lot of material to work with.

I mean. Cmon.

A little bit of a different focus here wouldn’t you say, @BBCNews? Especially considering that, by any objective measure, New York was hit far worse?

You may’ve thought that surely this is mostly a US phenomenon, but along with BBC and the Guardian, @Independent is here to remind you that that simply isn’t the case.

As I’ve said before, there are lots of factors to consider when determining which responses were appropriate.

But if journalism is to be the first draft of history, we’ve got ourselves a miserably unfair draft to work with because countless outlets have operated in bad faith.

And that means that millions of Americans who have lost loved ones because of the terrible response from @NYGovCuomo won’t get justice or accountability because the media spends all their time attacking governors they don’t like since they’re Republicans.

And that’s shameful.

If you’d like to check out the full episode of @nogimmickspod, give it a listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the…

Part of the problem is that there simply isn’t enough attention paid to how horrible Cuomo has been. @JaniceDean has probably been the loudest, most consistent voice. She’s done more to highlight his near-criminal antics than any mainstream media outlet.

If you aren’t familiar with her story and her quest for accountability, Dean was on @megynkelly’s show to talk about her personal experience and Cuomo’s failures. It’s well worth your time to give it a listen. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jan…

And if you haven’t read it, @StuDoesAmerica has a great piece in the NY Post that breaks down the chronology, lies, and failures of Cuomo. I can’t recommend it highly enough. google.com/amp/s/nypost.c…

As I’m sure most of you guys know, I do these threads often, and they can be both dispiriting and numbing.

But the way that the media has talked about Cuomo is galling and shameful and I still have confidence that, one day, there’ll be accountability.

There’s a lot that I hope for in post-Trump politics and out of a post-2020 GOP.

Media accountability is high up on that list. If we can’t all get a fair set of facts to work with, we can’t hope for a healthy body politic.

We can’t have that with the media we have now.

I don’t have anything to sell or subscribe to, but if you’re able, this is an incredibly difficult time for local food banks. Here in DC, Capital Area Food Bank is well worth your charity. capitalareafoodbank.org