Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is hoping to win the presidency by casting himself as a feral, despicable Donald Trump. Or any personality, really. Does a painful face that repeats itself with six days without a bowel movement count as personality? If so, DeSantis is a regular (or, rather, irregular) I’m sorry Taylorbut with less confetti.
But hey, DeSantis has a military record, unlike his main GOP counterpart, Bone Spurious Yellow. Unfortunately, it’s not a record anyone should be proud of, especially if DeSantis’ actions at Guantanamo Bay are any evidence.
Semafor reports that Showtime withheld the DeSantis-directed segment of his VICE documentary earlier this year for fear of backlash. The article, titled “The Guantanamo Candidate,” examines DeSantis’ stay at Guantanamo Bay, where he served as a lawyer from March 2006 to January 2007.
DISCUSSION SUBJECT: DeSantis’ attack on Florida’s New College hit home as teachers fled
The deputy reporter was protected during the on-camera interview by former inmate, Mansoor Adayfi, and prison guard, sergeant Joe Hickman. Both said they remember seeing DeSantis at the prison during the hunger strike. The deputy of the group went to Guantanamo Bay to try to talk to the soldiers, and he tried several times to ask Mr. DeSantis about his accusations, finally he met him at a press conference in Israel, according to the detailed explanation of Semafor.
But Showtime viewers who turned on their movies on May 28 never saw the episode. (He was helped to repeat the play for the Yellowjackets.)
Well, “Yellowjackets” is pretty good, to be fair. And it’s about a group of people who slowly lose their minds trying to survive in a desolate, unforgiving desert, and eventually start cannibalizing people to survive. So it’s a great start to the 2024 GOP Iowa caucus if you think about it.
In early June, VICE told The Hollywood Reporter,”As with all current programs there may be changes in schedule, and we are still discussing the schedule for this session. We are proud to present our reports and continue our partnership with Showtime. ” Meanwhile, Showtime only said, “We are not commenting on planning decisions.”
Since then, Semafor has learned that the network has cold feet.
But instead, two people familiar with the matter said, the cable-owned Paramount channel dropped DeSantis’ role for fear of political repercussions. One person briefed on the decision told Semafor that the company’s Washington lender, DeDe Lea, raised concerns about the piece.
For its part, VICE said through spokeswoman Elise Flick, “Not only do we stand behind our reporting but we are proud of the incredible journalism presented in this story.”
The decision was made as Showtime makes near-seismic changes to its business. As Semafor points out, Showtime’s parent company, Paramount, has been cutting back “to show business.” It also ran a number of projects, and among the injured was a senior who approved the “popularity” documents of this type.
However, the episode’s cancellation seems sudden given that it had already received permission from Showtime management and VICE’s legal team. Showtime and VICE had also started sending ads to the press. But just four days before the documentary’s premiere, Showtime staff sent a message to VICE saying, “Multiple teams are taking a hard look at what happened this Sunday, which will delay its premiere.”
VICE asked for more information about the decision, but Showtime failed to respond and “promptly promoted the episode on its website.”
And that in itself is a shame, because some of the content Showtime had on its website was impressive. For example, he said that the story had reasons “already tied up.” [DeSantis] he was present at the forced meal that the UN was saying he was tortured.”
According to a July 13 Hollywood Reporter story, Showtime finally released the entire VICE series in early July with half a season to go, and VICE is currently looking for a new home for the show.
But whatever the reason May missed DeSantis’ VICE doc, the Gitmo scandal won’t go away. Given the seemingly unchanging MAGA nature of the Republican electorate, revelations that DeSantis was present at the torture of prisoners may help him in the primaries — but they may not sound like much to your average voter next November.
For example, Ahmed Abdel Aziz, a former Gitmo inmate who was released after 13 years, said he remembers seeing DeSantis at the facility, and that DeSantis testified and complained about the force-feeding. “He didn’t start out as a very bad person, but what happened, I think, made him desperate,” Aziz. said McClatchy via the Tampa Bay Times. “Many senior leaders, if they want to be brutal, it is difficult for the people at the bottom to change.” He joined the bad guys in the end.”
Another inmate, whom VICE also interviewed about his writings, said McClatchy he clearly remembers DeSantis being there during one feeding.
Mansoor Adayfi, a Yemeni national who was sent to Guantanamo Bay in 2002 and has remained unindicted for 14 years, told McClatchy that he found out when he saw the governor of Florida when he heard that DeSantis was there when he was force-fed at Camp Delta. Adayfi said he remembers DeSantis sitting there with Zak Ghuneim, a former camp counselor, and that they both vomited, a story Ghuneim denied in a phone interview.
Hopefully DeSantis’ VICE documentary will see the light of day before it’s over, because if it looks like Trump might go to jail, Republican voters might be able to get their heads out of their docks long enough to look for a better alternative. And for some reason, DeSantis still managed the best poll numbers.
DISCUSSION SUBJECT: All of DeSantis’ starting options were elevated. The new one is very wrong