Special interest backed Florida’s Voice takes serious editorial liberties in a propaganda piece against Captains For Clean Water. We called them out.
When you’re fighting powerful and well-funded special interests like Big Sugar, there’s one thing you can always count on: a relentless flood of propaganda. Fake news attacks. Editorial sleight of hand. Manufactured outrage.
Last week, we got hit with another example—and this one was a doozy.
Fabricating an attack that never was
Florida’s Voice, a propaganda outlet with a track record of pushing special-interest narratives, posted a video on X that claimed Tucker Carlson had “slammed” and “scorched” Captains For Clean Water, the Everglades Foundation, and Governor DeSantis.
The post caption opened, “BREAKING: Tucker Carlson slams Gov. Ron DeSantis for supporting left-wing environmental organizations like Captains For Clean Water and Everglades Foundation.”
But the funny thing is, Tucker Carlson never said anything about Captains For Clean Water. He never mentioned the Everglades Foundation. He didn’t target Governor DeSantis for supporting our organizations.
The entire premise was fabricated.
@TuckerCarlson can you provide more context on this? We support growing real food like grass fed beef and vegetables- not socialist subsidized crops like sugarcane being grown in the historic Everglades. Sugar is a drug that’s killing Americans, costing taxpayers billions and… https://t.co/V3Sj9CiBRE
— Captains4CleanWater (@Capt4CleanWater) April 26, 2025
The video posted by Florida’s Voice showed Carlson speaking at an event in Naples about agriculture and development in Florida. But nowhere in his comments did he mention our name or anything close to an attack on our mission.
Florida’s Voice simply took Carlson’s broad commentary about development and manufactured a connection that didn’t exist—presumably to smear our movement and protect their industry allies.
They twisted his words, invented a false narrative, and tried to pass it off as news.
Why Would They Do This?
This didn’t happen in a vacuum. We’ve seen a consistent pattern: whenever we speak out against harmful proposals—like the recent rock mine in the Everglades Agricultural Area—these attacks come out of the woodwork. And they’re not random.
Supporters of our cause flagged a revealing piece of context: just weeks earlier, one of Florida’s Voice’s own correspondents was exposed for participating in a pay-for-play disinformation campaign.
In that case, Eric Daugherty, their “news director,” parroted nearly identical pro-soda talking points alongside other influencers who were reportedly paid $1,000 by a middleman working for Big Soda.
The goal? Stop efforts to limit soda purchases with SNAP benefits. These influencers invoked “freedom” and even Trump’s Diet Coke button—all while failing to disclose the payday behind their posts.
After being publicly called out, Daugherty deleted his original post and issued an apology, replying “Yeah, that was dumb of me. Massive egg on my face. In all seriousness, it won’t happen again.”
But the damage was done—and it revealed a playbook we’re seeing again and again: front groups posing as media outlets pushing industry narratives while pretending to act in the public interest.
🚨🧵 EXPOSED: “INFLUENCEABLE” — The company cutting Big Checks to “influencers” on behalf of Big Soda
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 22, 2025
Over the past 48 hours, several large supposedly MAGA-aligned “influencers” posted almost identical talking points fed to them, convincing you MAHA was out of line for not… pic.twitter.com/PpPwH9lHGe
Now here we are again, just weeks later, with the same entity defending Big Sugar by falsely dragging Captains For Clean Water into Carlson’s speech. Same tactic. Same goal. Different industry client. So much for, “it won’t happen again.”
Propaganda in the Age of Dark Money
What we’re witnessing is a broader trend: special interests funneling dollars through anonymous LLCs and dark money groups to pay influencers, manufacture outrage, and hijack the narrative.
These aren’t isolated incidents. They’re part of a coordinated effort to confuse the public, distract from real issues, and discredit anyone who threatens the status quo—especially those of us fighting to restore the Everglades and protect Florida’s water.
Florida’s Voice isn’t holding Big Sugar accountable. They’re running interference.
Florida Deserves Better
Big Sugar isn’t traditional agriculture. It’s the industrial manufacturing of poison, sustained by billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies. Their operations block the flow of clean water south, forcing toxic discharges into Florida’s estuaries and wreaking havoc on our coasts.
And while our waters get trashed, and taxpayers foot the bill, Big Sugar’s propaganda proxies are busy gaslighting the public.
Florida deserves clean water, not toxic runoff. America deserves real food, not taxpayer-funded poison. And we all deserve the truth, not paid-for lies dressed up as journalism.
So, stay sharp, stay informed, and don’t fall for the noise. The more we expose these tactics, the harder it becomes for them to hide.
Special interest backed Florida’s Voice takes serious editorial liberties in a propaganda piece against Captains For Clean Water. We called them out.
When you’re fighting powerful and well-funded special interests like Big Sugar, there’s one thing you can always count on: a relentless flood of propaganda. Fake news attacks. Editorial sleight of hand. Manufactured outrage.
Last week, we got hit with another example—and this one was a doozy.
Fabricating an attack that never was
Florida’s Voice, a propaganda outlet with a track record of pushing special-interest narratives, posted a video on X that claimed Tucker Carlson had “slammed” and “scorched” Captains For Clean Water, the Everglades Foundation, and Governor DeSantis.
The post caption opened, “BREAKING: Tucker Carlson slams Gov. Ron DeSantis for supporting left-wing environmental organizations like Captains For Clean Water and Everglades Foundation.”
But the funny thing is, Tucker Carlson never said anything about Captains For Clean Water. He never mentioned the Everglades Foundation. He didn’t target Governor DeSantis for supporting our organizations.
The entire premise was fabricated.
@TuckerCarlson can you provide more context on this? We support growing real food like grass fed beef and vegetables- not socialist subsidized crops like sugarcane being grown in the historic Everglades. Sugar is a drug that’s killing Americans, costing taxpayers billions and… https://t.co/V3Sj9CiBRE
— Captains4CleanWater (@Capt4CleanWater) April 26, 2025
The video posted by Florida’s Voice showed Carlson speaking at an event in Naples about agriculture and development in Florida. But nowhere in his comments did he mention our name or anything close to an attack on our mission.
Florida’s Voice simply took Carlson’s broad commentary about development and manufactured a connection that didn’t exist—presumably to smear our movement and protect their industry allies.
They twisted his words, invented a false narrative, and tried to pass it off as news.
Why Would They Do This?
This didn’t happen in a vacuum. We’ve seen a consistent pattern: whenever we speak out against harmful proposals—like the recent rock mine in the Everglades Agricultural Area—these attacks come out of the woodwork. And they’re not random.
Supporters of our cause flagged a revealing piece of context: just weeks earlier, one of Florida’s Voice’s own correspondents was exposed for participating in a pay-for-play disinformation campaign.
In that case, Eric Daugherty, their “news director,” parroted nearly identical pro-soda talking points alongside other influencers who were reportedly paid $1,000 by a middleman working for Big Soda.
The goal? Stop efforts to limit soda purchases with SNAP benefits. These influencers invoked “freedom” and even Trump’s Diet Coke button—all while failing to disclose the payday behind their posts.
After being publicly called out, Daugherty deleted his original post and issued an apology, replying “Yeah, that was dumb of me. Massive egg on my face. In all seriousness, it won’t happen again.”
But the damage was done—and it revealed a playbook we’re seeing again and again: front groups posing as media outlets pushing industry narratives while pretending to act in the public interest.
🚨🧵 EXPOSED: “INFLUENCEABLE” — The company cutting Big Checks to “influencers” on behalf of Big Soda
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 22, 2025
Over the past 48 hours, several large supposedly MAGA-aligned “influencers” posted almost identical talking points fed to them, convincing you MAHA was out of line for not… pic.twitter.com/PpPwH9lHGe
Now here we are again, just weeks later, with the same entity defending Big Sugar by falsely dragging Captains For Clean Water into Carlson’s speech. Same tactic. Same goal. Different industry client. So much for, “it won’t happen again.”
Propaganda in the Age of Dark Money
What we’re witnessing is a broader trend: special interests funneling dollars through anonymous LLCs and dark money groups to pay influencers, manufacture outrage, and hijack the narrative.
These aren’t isolated incidents. They’re part of a coordinated effort to confuse the public, distract from real issues, and discredit anyone who threatens the status quo—especially those of us fighting to restore the Everglades and protect Florida’s water.
Florida’s Voice isn’t holding Big Sugar accountable. They’re running interference.
Florida Deserves Better
Big Sugar isn’t traditional agriculture. It’s the industrial manufacturing of poison, sustained by billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies. Their operations block the flow of clean water south, forcing toxic discharges into Florida’s estuaries and wreaking havoc on our coasts.
And while our waters get trashed, and taxpayers foot the bill, Big Sugar’s propaganda proxies are busy gaslighting the public.
Florida deserves clean water, not toxic runoff. America deserves real food, not taxpayer-funded poison. And we all deserve the truth, not paid-for lies dressed up as journalism.
So, stay sharp, stay informed, and don’t fall for the noise. The more we expose these tactics, the harder it becomes for them to hide.