Urine luck, Jon Stewart!
The Daily Show crew on Thursday got a taste of its own medicine. The crank news team is in Florida, putting pressure on Gov. Rick Scott to put his urine where his mouth is and submit to the same drug test welfare applicants were until recently required to take.
Scott on Wednesday told Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi that he has taken a drug test “plenty of times.” So on Thursday, Mandvi asked Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi if she would do the same, since she supported the legislation.
Pulling out a plastic cup, Bondi responded: “Well, that’s very interesting that you should say that. Because as attorney general, I’m always prepared,” she said, according to the Miami Herald.
“You have a sample of your urine!” Mandvi replied. “Is this really your urine?”
“Thank you, have a great day,” Bondi replied, as she walked away. “My name is on the top.”
But Mandvi had a suspicion. Surely Bondi wouldn’t just be toting around a jar of her own urine, would she? The Herald reports:
As his camera crew returned, he looked at the cup. “It says Pam Bondi. I don’t know if it’s really urine though.” He smelled it. “It’s apple juice.” He tasted it. “It’s apple juice.”His cameraman noted, “She’s a pretty woman.” Mandvi agreed. “She just has incredibly beautiful smelling urine.”
A judge in October issued an injunction on Florida’s welfare drug testing law after the state’s ACLU filed suit against the law. The state is appealing the injunction.
A spokesperson at the attorney general’s office confirmed to TPM that Bondi gave the Daily Show apple juice. Bondi’s communications director, Jenn Meale, told TPM, “We thought it would be fun to prepare for that question specifically.” They grabbed a sample cup from the nurse’s office and got the apple juice from the Capitol’s cafeteria.
“I think (The Daily Show was) a little surprised, and had some fun with it,” she said.
David Taintor
David Taintor is TPM’s News Editor. He contributes to TPM’s Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
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