NBC Nightly News, apparently having nothing else with which to fill nearly 3 minutes, decided to fart out a report that serves little purpose except to bash an old rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis, and cast the State of Florida in a negative light.
Here’s how Lester Holt introduced the report filed by, quite appropriately, Shannon Pettypiece:
LESTER HOLT: As millions of Americans picked up and moved during the pandemic, few states saw a bigger boom than Florida. But for some transplants, the Sunshine State has lost its luster. Shannon Pettypiece explains.
DENNIS COLE: I mean, I agree, this is beautiful. You know, you can't ask for a nicer setting.
SHANNON PETTYPIECE: Months into the pandemic, Dennis Cole sold his Connecticut home and like hundreds of thousands of Americans, headed to Florida. Many, drawn by the state's lower taxes and sunny skies.
COLE: It’s not the panacea I had in my head.
PETTYPIECE: But now, he's preparing to put his Florida house on the market and move back north.
COLE: We have political issues in Florida that are just ugly. We have costs skyrocketing.
The report went downhill from there. In an effort to build a case that somehow things are terrible in Florida, Pettypiece flings a bunch of statistics that end up undermining her argument. For example:
PETTYPIECE: Florida has been among the fastest growing states in the nation since the start of the pandemic. In 2022 alone, more than 700,000 people moved there. But at the same time, nearly 500,000 left, the largest number since the Great Recession.
That number sounds awful at first blush, but Florida was the top state for net in-migration in 2022, and the mirror opposite of California- where you had just as many more people fleeing rampant crime and excrement-caked streets than moved into the once-Golden State.
Pettypiece then moves to cite home prices, homeowners and auto insurance. No kidding. 200,000 net in-migration will do that to home prices, and subsequently, homeowners insurance. By the way, auto insurance prices went up nationwide, not just in Florida.
Which leads us to the real thrust of the report- the idea that people are somehow fleeing the state due to politics. And that this is somehow a bad thing. People who move down here know what they are getting into beforehand. Even so, if you are that indignant over kids not being subjected to grooming in public schools, and that upset over Disney getting owned, then you should probably sell your home, take your profits and go back to wherever you came from.
This report really served no purpose except to try to score some points in garbage time. Pardon the pun, but this really was a petty piece. And on National Alligator Day, no less.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on NBC Nightly News on Wednesday, May 29th, 2024:
LESTER HOLT: As millions of Americans picked up and moved during the pandemic, few states saw a bigger boom than Florida. But for some transplants, the Sunshine State has lost its luster. Shannon Pettypiece explains.
DENNIS COLE: I mean, I agree, this is beautiful. You know, you can't ask for a nicer setting.
SHANNON PETTYPIECE: Months into the pandemic, Dennis Cole sold his Connecticut home and like hundreds of thousands of Americans, headed to Florida. Many, drawn by the state's lower taxes and sunny skies.
COLE: It’s not the panacea I had in my head.
PETTYPIECE: But now, he's preparing to put his Florida house on the market and move back north.
COLE: We have political issues in Florida that are just ugly. We have costs skyrocketing.
PETTYPIECE: Florida has been among the fastest growing states in the nation since the start of the pandemic. In 2022 alone, more than 700,000 people moved there. But at the same time, nearly 500,000 left, the largest number since the Great Recession. We spoke with dozens of former Florida residents who have recently left the state. Among the reasons they gave, a soaring cost of living. Florida has had one of the nation's highest rates of inflation. Last year, car insurance was up 24% and homeowner's insurance jumped 42%. Home prices have risen 60% since 2020.
JOHN DESAUTELS: They love the blue skies and the dolphins and the water but this comes at a price.
PETTYPIECE: John Desautels has spent two decades selling Florida real estate.
Are you getting a lot of calls from people who moved down here during Covid who are now looking to leave?
DESAUTELS: Yeah, we are.
PETTYPIECE: And what's the number one reason they're giving?
DESAUTELS: Politics, politics.
PETTYPIECE: Florida has recently enacted some of the most conservative legislation in the country. Including the near total ban on abortions, and restrictions on how race and sexuality are taught in schools.
DESAUTELS: My in-migration people want to move here due to politics. My out-migration people want to move out of here due to politics.
PETTYPIECE: A spokesperson for Florida Governor Ron Desantis said that under his leadership, “Florida led the country in domestic in-migration in 2022 and saw the highest population growth rate in generations.”
RON DESANTIS: Look, this has always been a transient state. People come and go. That's normal. I think our policies have attracted folks.
PETTYPIECE: For Cole, who considered himself a moderate conservative when he moved to Florida, the state's political shift to the right has contributed to his decision to leave.
COLE: Whether it was fighting with Disney, whether the whole LGBQ thing, it's just that there are so many things that make it uncomfortable for a lot of people to be here.
PETTYPIECE: Leaving him and others looking for a brighter future outside The Sunshine State. Shannon Pettypiece, NBC News, St. Pete Beach, Florida.
