Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
First, a top-of-Last-Call shoutout to a great friend, great guy Ron Pierce of RSA Consulting.
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A trio of prominent Florida business leaders on Thursday condemned the pro-Donald Trump mob that raided the Capitol yesterday, calling their actions “shameful and unpatriotic.”
In a joint statement, Florida Council of 100 Chair Syd Kitson, Vice Chair Eric Silagy and President Bob Ward said the scene Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol tarnished the United States’ historic and noble record of peaceful presidential transitions.
“We have been greatly blessed that our forefathers entrusted to us a system of government that is embraced in a Constitution so carefully crafted that we avoid the disruptive and violent history of political change seen elsewhere in the world. At the core of our nation’s values are the principles of free speech, peaceful assembly, and the right to have a voice in the running of our government through a lawfully elected representative democracy,” they wrote.
“All Americans have the right for their voice to be heard, but once yesterday’s demonstrators pushed their way across police barriers and into our nation’s Capitol, they became unlawful, anti-democracy rioters. Their actions were shameful and unpatriotic.”
The three men then called on Americans to reject political violence and for elected officials to think before they speak.
“We must also expect and demand more from our elected ‘leaders.’ Words matter, leadership matters and those who are entrusted to represent us have a solemn obligation, a duty, to put the country and our democracy over all else,” the statement reads.
The Florida Council of 100 includes executives from many of the state’s largest business interests — Kitson is CEO of the Kitson & Partners real estate company, Silagy is president and CEO of Florida Power & Light Company, and Ward has decades of experience in state government across several agencies and boards.
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases:
— 1,404,374 FL residents (+19,334 since Wednesday)
— 25,348 Non-FL residents (+482 since Wednesday)
Origin:
— 11,688 Travel related
— 525,560 Contact with a confirmed case
— 15,161 Both
— 851,965 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 64,704 in FL
Deaths:
— 22,817 in FL
Evening Reads
“Donald Trump’s America becomes one of those ‘shithole countries’” via John Harris of POLITICO Magazine
“William Barr says Trump conduct ‘betrayal of presidency” via The Associated Press
“Trump is said to have discussed pardoning himself” via Michael Schmidt and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times
“As House was breached, a fear ‘We’d have to fight’ to get out” via Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Sabrina Tavernise and of The New York Times
“Flying the flag of fascism for Trump” via Robin Givhan of The Washington Post
“Inside the assault on the Capitol: Evacuating the Senate” via Paul Kane of The Washington Post
“How pro-Trump insurrectionists broke into the U.S. Capitol” via The Washington Post
“The storming of Capitol Hill was organized on social media” via of The New York Times
“Capitol breach prompts urgent questions about security failures” via Carol D. Leonnig, Aaron C. Davis, Dan Lamothe and David A. Fahrenthold of The Washington Post
“Kid glove treatment of pro-Trump mob contrasts with strong-arm police tactics against Black Lives Matter, activists say” via Robert Klemko, Kimberly Kindy, Kim Bellware and Derek Hawkins of The New York Times
“A mob and the breach of Democracy: The violent end of the Trump era” via Peter Baker of The New York Times
“Top Dems sack Capitol security officials after deadly riot” via Burgess Everett and Heather Caygle of POLITICO
“Federal prosecutors file first charges related to riot at the Capitol.” via Alan Feuer, Charlie Savage and Michael Wines of The New York Times
“The day Trump broke the GOP” via POLITICO
“Bidenworld hopes Capitol chaos gives GOP a ‘shock to the system’” via POLITICO
“A facial recognition company says that viral Washington Times “antifa” story is false” via Craig Silverman of BuzzFeed News
“Mass delusion in America” via Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic
“Mick Mulvaney resigns from Trump administration” via CNBC
“Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao resigns after Capitol siege” via Axios
“Florida lawmaker’s wife defends Capitol rioters, says they were ‘peacefully protesting’” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“Tampa Bay man arrested in connection with Capitol riot, police say” via Josh Fiallo of the Tampa Bay Times
“Vero Beach man describes mayhem in Washington, D.C.: ‘A Daytona NASCAR Race times 10’” via Corey Atwood of TC Palm
“West Virginia lawmaker who recorded himself storming Capitol urged to resign in petition” via Cuneyt Dil of The Associated Press
“Trump supporters, other passengers in shouting bout on plane” via The Associated Press
“Who can get the COVID vaccine in Florida? Hint: it helps if you have donated to a hospital” via Julie Brown of the Miami Herald
“Florida shatters record with 19,000+ coronavirus cases Thursday” via Natalie Weber of the Tampa Bay Times
Quote of the Day
“As surely as history, in the future, will punish those who engaged in such anarchy and criminal behavior, our nation will use all appropriate tools of law enforcement and justice to seek their prosecution and punishment now.” — U.S. Attorney Lawrence Keefe, announcing he will prosecute any Floridians in his district who took part in Wednesday’s assault on the U.S. Capitol.
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