On Thursday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis welcomed a television crew from Fox News—and only Fox News—to a signing event for a bill aimed to restrict voting access in the state.
DeSantis gushed over the bill, claiming that it ensured Florida is “a great place for democracy,” even though he has acknowledged that the state held a “fair and transparent” election last year.
Despite being heralded as a nonpartisan triumph, there are signs that the bill is quite the opposite, Seth Meyers pointed out during his show’s “A Closer Look” segment on Thursday.
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For one, the signing was broadcast live on Fox & Friends—“the dumbest of Fox shows,” Meyers said. Also, the fact that all other media outlets were reportedly barred from attending “really gives the game away,” as he put it.
“I’m sure [the bill is] bipartisan if they’re signing it exclusively on Fox News,” the late-night host quipped. “It’s like your spouse saying they have something to tell you, and they want to do it live on Maury.”
DeSantis welcomed to the event members of Club 45 USA, a Donald Trump fan group, who cheered as he scrawled his name on the document. Fox hosts Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade and Ainsley Earhardt looked on from their network’s New York studio.
“It’s truly shocking to see the business of government turn into a right-wing cable news exclusive,” Meyers continued. “It’s like livestreaming an emergency heart surgery on eBaum’s World right next to videos called ‘Top Ten Skateboard Fails’ and ‘Dude Poops His Pants in a Del Taco.’”
The bill, which creates stricter ID requirements for mail-in voting, limits who can pick up and return ballots, and strengthens the power of partisan ballot tabulation observers, resembles other Republican-supported legislation introduced nationwide after the 2020 election.
“Rather than appeal to a majority of voters, [Republicans] would rather just rig the game so they always win,” Meyers concluded. “They are trying to codify Trump’s big election lie and make it canon.”
