News

“DeSantis Calls Out ‘Fake News,’ But His Campaign Used Fake News Site to Raise Cash”

This is the headline of the Miami Herald; it says that the body:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis does not hesitate to label “fake news media” the enemy.

The Republican governor’s campaign has sought the help of a website that satirizes the topic “Fake news you trust” to help raise funds for his bid.

The Governor’s Campaign Committee and the Friends of Ron DeSantis Political Action Committee paid $15,000 to The Babylon Bee, a conservative-leaning website that satires about online fundraising last year. [apparently focused on renting donor or subscriber lists -EV]According to the state’s campaign finance records, this is the case.

It is really possible to refer to satire websites as fake news sites, and it seems inconsistent that we condemn fake news while working with satire.

Do you think it’s a joke I am missing? I must admit that I sometimes set up headlines as gags—for instance, though I can’t find the post, I vaguely remember that at one point in 2003 or thereabouts a state judge with the last name O’Connor retired, and I posted a headline “Judge O’Connor Retires” with the main body of the article offering the explanation. The Herald article seems serious to me.

For the tip, thanks to InstaPundit