Ron DeSantis is at War With America's Biggest TV Network

In an unusual gambit stoked by anger over its coverage, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is making good on a promise to boycott NBC, America's largest TV network by viewers, even as expectations grow that he will try for the Republican presidential nomination.

DeSantis's move to shun the network, just as some progressives are calling on Democrats to refuse to appear on the more conservative Fox News over its post-2020 election reporting, is another sign of the growing polarization in the U.S. political and media landscape as the 2024 presidential election looms.

It has been three weeks since DeSantis or his PR team have responded to requests from NBC, the governor's deputy press secretary Jeremy Redfern told Newsweek. They will not do so until NBC and its affiliates "display a consistent track of truthful reporting", Redfern said in an email.

NBC News declined to comment on the DeSantis boycott. It is part of Comcast Corp., which also owns MSNBC and CNBC. NBC was the most-watched television network in the United States in 2022, according to Nielsen figures cited by Variety.