User:Presidentofyes12/news: April 7th, 2021

was bored

Mike Pence launches conservative advocacy group

Following the 2020 election and the inauguration of Joe Biden, former Vice President Mike Pence and former President Donald Trump essentially separated (likely due to Trump disliking Pence's refusal to work to expose supposed voter fraud) . Other than joining the conservative group Young America's Foundation, Mike Pence kept a relatively low profile after the 2020 election. While Trump went back to the Mar-A-Lago resort without a Twitter account, launching the website 45office.com to "preserve [his] legacy", Mike Pence launched a conservative advocacy group named the "Advancing American Freedom" group. Pence has said that it's main goal is to defend traditional conservative values, while advancing the values of the Make America Great Again movement.

The advocacy group will be managed by some former Trump administration officials and prominent conservative leaders, such as Kellyanne Conway, Larry Kudlow, Newt Gingrich and Andrew Wheeler . Pence said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that the group would "[promote] the successful policies of the Trump administration". Donald Trump praised the group in another statement to the Washington Examiner. In the statement, Trump said, "It (his presidency) was the most successful first term in American history... Nice to see Mike highlighting some of our many achievements!"

Him coming back into the public may potentially precede a 2024 presidential bid for Pence, which he has admitted to be interested in. It is unclear whether he is actually going to run for president in 2024, or if he'll be able to gain the support of Trump supporters. Trump also has not directly said that he would run for president in 2024, but he has hinted at it on multiple occasions, such as in his CPAC speech. Despite Pence's reported presidential speculation, aides to Pence dismissed statements that the goal of the group was to get a better chance of a win in 2024, saying that the 2022 midterms and policy agenda development was the main goal.

Ron DeSantis rips "60 Minutes" for report regarding vaccines

CBS ran a 60 Minutes report criticizing Ron DeSantis' vaccine rollout. They stated Ron DeSantis had helped Publix's stores and pharmacies distribute vaccines, because Publix made a $100,000 donation to DeSantis' PAC. However, they provided no evidence for this statement. DeSantis vehemently denied these allegations, calling the "60 Minutes" journalists "smear merchants". The DeSantis office stated they began with Publix because they were among the first ready to roll out the vaccine.

When confronted in a news conference about the event, Ron DeSantis called their statements "a fake narrative". They also cut a portion of the confrontation where DeSantis explained why his administration began helping Publix with getting the vaccine out. While CBS said it was because of time, the fact that they cut out DeSantis' explanation of the events led many to believe they selectively edited the story. Ron Desantis' followed the event with a public statement saying that CBS "cut out everything that showed that their narrative was a piece of horse manure."

Both liberals and conservatives criticized CBS' reporting. Voices on the right mainly called the reporting of the event "biased", and how CBS selectively edited out the explanation of the event, while some voices on the left mainly spoke about how the reporting and DeSantis' reaction to the reporting may have given him the boost he needed for a re-election campaign.