While signing a controversial voting law on Thursday morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis drew widespread criticism after his office froze out reporters and gave Fox News exclusive coverage of the event in West Palm Beach. According to a statement from Fox News, the news network did not “request or mandate” that it have exclusive rights to the bill signing, which suggests that it was purely the doings of DeSantis’ office. The proceedings were so sketchy that later that evening, Late Night host Seth Meyers devoted a segment of the show to the concerning display of political theater.
“It’s like your spouse saying they have something to tell you, and they want to do it live on Maury,” Meyers quipped about DeSantis’ attempts to call the voting bill “bipartisan” while refusing to let its signing air anywhere but Fox News. Meyers then drew a straight line from Donald Trump’s election loss to the bill, which like the Voting Integrity Act in Georgia, has been criticized for its blatant voter suppression. Via Mediaite:
“The GOP has attempted to rebrand itself as a populist pro-workers party, but it’s all a giant fraud,” the Late Night host said Thursday night. “All they really care about is dismantling democracy and purging anyone who disagrees with the unhinged lie that Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election. They don’t care what it means for you, so long as Trump can say, ‘I feel great.’”
Meyers then saved his most scathing remarks for Republicans’ recent obsession with voting bills for the end. “Rather than appeal to a majority of voters, they’d rather just rig the game so they always win.”