Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has a new Press Secretary, a freelance reporter who exposed one of the state’s loudest COVID-19 critics.
Christina Pushaw is slated to handle the media on DeSantis’ behalf, according to a Monday report in The Capitolist.
She appears to be replacing Cody McCloud, who, according to his LinkedIn profile, is DeSantis’ most recent Press Secretary. It is unclear whether McCloud has departed DeSantis’ administration, or moved to a different role.
“My main goal is to help people understand the facts about what Governor DeSantis has accomplished for Florida and how he’s working to build on those accomplishments every day,” Pushaw told The Florida Capital Star Tuesday.
“Over the past year especially, there have been so many instances where corporate media outlets have treated Gov DeSantis very unfairly — for example, falsely insinuating (without evidence) that Florida’s Covid numbers aren’t accurate, or elevating ludicrous conspiracy theories about ‘pay to play’ deals during the vaccine rollout,” she continued. “I do not believe any other Governor has faced this kind of scrutiny, and scrutiny is expected for all politicians, but when the media simply fabricates or repeats baseless allegations, it’s just eroding public trust in media for good reason.”
Pushaw is a communications specialist who “worked as an international political communications consultant aiding pro-American political leaders and organizations in Eastern Europe, specializing in English-language media.”
She has a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Southern California and Master’s degree in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins University.
Perhaps most notably, Pushaw exposed one of Florida’s – and perhaps one of America’s – largest COVID-19 scammers, Rebekah Jones.
Jones was formerly the geographic information systems manager for the Florida Department of Health (FDOH). She first received national prominence when she claimed that DeSantis used law enforcement to raid her home as retaliation for exposing an alleged “coverup” in COVID-19 related deaths in the state.
In reality, and despite the fact that left-wing media gave her a massive platform to spread lies, Jones is a crackpot with a long criminal history, including battery of a policy officer. She was fired from the FDOH after a “pattern of insubordination,” and her home was raided after she allegedly “downloaded confidential information about 19,182 employees” of the FDOH after her termination, for which she faces felony charges.
Jones, who was responsible only for putting the state’s COVID-19 data on a website, has made a cottage industry out of claiming that the data was manipulated, despite there being no evidence to back that claim. She has grifted thousands of dollars from unsuspecting people via GoFundMe, and amassed a huge following on Twitter.
After Pushaw’s exposé, whatever credibility Jones’ may have had was completely shot.
Pushaw said she fled to Florida during the pandemic, and calls it her “adopted home state.”
“Some people are surprised that I’m a conservative because I’m from one of the bluest areas in the country. But that’s precisely what shaped my views on policy. Growing up in California, I’ve seen firsthand the destruction caused by unfettered progressive control,” Pushaw told The Capitolist. “The contrast between my home state of California and my adopted home state of Florida couldn’t be more dramatic.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to dabroscareports@gmail.com.
Photo “Christina Pushaw” by Christina Pushaw. Background Photo “Florida Capitol” by DXR. CC BY-SA 4.0.