Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin received an inquiry from a contributor to Forbes that slammed the governor for tapping into “primitive, racist proclivities of his electorate” by using the term “woke.”
Griffin tweeted an email he received from a “Forbes Careers Senior Contributor” Dana Brownlee, who is doing research for an upcoming piece tentatively headlined, “’Woke’ Has Become an Anti-Equity Slur, and Workplaces Shouldn’t Condone it.”
Brownlee appeared to slam DeSantis for the “persistent use of the pejorative, divisive term (‘woke’) and argued that he’s adopted the Lee Atwater strategy of weaponinging [sic] coded language to tap into the most primitive racist proclivities of his electorate.”
Griffin said the email is not reporting but instead is “partisan activism.”
“@Forbes reporter: ‘Hi, I’m going to call you a racist. I need your comment by 2:00PM!’ Cheap, partisan activism. Not journalism,” Griffin tweeted.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ communications team often publicly share emails they get from reporters. ((Photo by Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images))
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Griffin added, “We will see what ends up in the article.”
In his response, Griffin told Brownlee that their position is clear and said, “You aren’t truth seeking, you’re participating in partisan activism.” He followed by suggesting that the reported should “ask the ‘woke’ thought leaders why so many people have rejected their hateful ideology.”
Aerial view of palm trees framing the city skyline on October 27, 2021 in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Griffin also declared, “Meanwhile, as Governor Ron DeSantis has promised, Florida will continue to be where ‘woke’ goes to die.”
Multiple commentators on Twitter skewered the alleged Forbes contributor for being a disgrace to journalism.
“’The article argues…’ ummm where did you go to j school, girl because you need a refund,” commentator and podcaster Lyndsey Fifield tweeted.
“Weaponinging,” former Trump White House lawyer Andrew Kloster wrote. “Forbes can’t even write an email, awesome.”