EDITOR’S NOTE, February 16, 2024: On February 15, Justice Department Counsel David Weiss indicted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov on two felony counts of making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record for claims made to the bureau. The charges are in relation to June 2020 FD-1023 form alleging President Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden received a combined $10 million in a bribery scheme involving the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma.
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Monday morning’s CNN News Central featured an interview with Daily Beast columnist Matt Lewis, who co-host John Berman somehow labeled as a “conservative writer.” In promoting Lewis's new book Filthy Rich Politicians, Berman did not discuss the Biden Burisma bribes.
Instead, they decried Governor Ron DeSantis's preference for “private planes” to travel on the campaign trail as proof of a “lifestyle” that DeSantis has led as a result of his “high-profile political platform.”
Berman introduced the subject by quoting a New York Times article about the DeSantis campaign’s recent financial troubles, and how these may be related to DeSantis’s preference “to travel by private planes” instead of commercially:
BERMAN: So, there’s an interesting overlap in some of the reporting with your new book which is right over your left shoulder, Filthy Rich Politicians, The Times reports, quote, “The challenge for Mr. DeSantis in relying so on heavily on bigger donors is two-fold: it means that he must travel the country extensively to attend fund-raisers to gather their larger checks and that those big donors cannot give to him more than once.” And, “That the governor and his wife prefer to travel by private planes,” it “adds significant costs, and cuts into the net money raised when crisscrossing the nation for fund-raisers.”
Lewis obviously agreed that this preference was “a thing among politicians” and that “they get a taste for” this more expensive, elite travel option.
Lewis asserted this was especially problematic because it was illustrative of DeSantis’s rise in fame and fortune since he ran for president. He complained about how DeSantis’s net worth rose over 300 percent in the past year alone “thanks to his platform, the high-profile political platform he has as governor of Florida and as a presidential candidate.”
Then, Lewis discussed how DeSantis running for president meant that he was in a category of people who “want to live a lifestyle,” and one that Lewis wasn’t too keen on supporting.
He brought this back to the Founders’ intention for elected officials, that they should “leave the farm and come to Washington to serve,” rather than modern politicians, who “would rather buy the farm than go back to the farm, and part of it is that lifestyle.”
This criticism of modern American politicians and their financial habits is not unmerited, but CNN doesn't use this as a general principle, but as an anti-Republican argument.
To illustrate how he thought DeSantis should try to rectify his allegedly sticky financial situation, Lewis brought up liberal media favorite John McCain, who “was flying commercial” to make campaign stops and go to fundraising events, and thus was apparently “able to turn it around” with his then-failing primary campaign in 2007.
Berman, amused by this example, explained it by mentioning that McCain had gone on commercial flights despite being “comfortably wealthy.” He also brought up Mitt Romney, who had done the same thing on his own campaign trail in 2011.
This segment was brought to you in part by Chevrolet. The transcript follows.
CNN News Central
7/24/23
11:22:43 AM ET
JOHN BERMAN: So, there’s an interesting overlap in some of the reporting with your new book which is right over your left shoulder, Filthy Rich Politicians, The Times reports, quote, “The challenge for Mr. DeSantis in relying so on heavily on bigger donors is two-fold: it means that he must travel the country extensively to attend fund-raisers to gather their larger checks and that those big donors cannot give to him more than once.” And, “That the governor and his wife prefer to travel by private planes,” it “adds significant costs, and cuts into the net money raised when crisscrossing the nation for fund-raisers.”
This is about DeSantis’s fundraising problems, but who doesn't prefer to travel on private jets, Matt? It turns out this is a thing…
MATT LEWIS: That’s right.
BERMAN: …among politicians, they get a taste for it, yes?
LEWIS: Absolutely. And yeah, Ron DeSantis, interestingly, was worth only about $300,000, I think $319,000, as of last year, and then three weeks ago or something like that, he filed his disclosure, he’s now a millionaire thanks to the book deal that he got, of course, thanks to his platform, the high-profile political platform he has as—as governor of Florida and as a presidential candidate.
But, yeah, John, you’re right, I mean, I think that people who run for office and, certainly, who get elected, want to live a lifestyle. I think it’s the reason why they stick around forever. They—it’s hard to get—get them to go.
You know, the Founders had the vision that people would leave the farm and come to Washington to serve, and now I think people would rather buy the farm than go back to the farm, and part of it is—is that lifestyle.
And, you know, John McCain, back to him, in 2008, at a certain point, he was flying commercial, carrying his own bags at the airport, and he was able to turn it around.
So never say never, but, I would not—I don't have high hopes for this—this reboot.
BERMAN: You know—by the way, John McCain, who was comfortably wealthy, you know, by the way, yes, he was flying commercial.
Mitt Romney flew commercial, obviously comfortably wealthy as well.
