In a career that included covering the wild and unpredictable world of Florida politics, perhaps the moment Eliott Rodriguez is best known for came when he uttered 11 words at the start of the 2014 governor’s debate he moderated between Charlie Crist and Rick Scott.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Rodriguez said, “we have an extremely peculiar situation right now.”
Peculiar indeed. The two candidates had refused to come out onto the stage. It was unheard of — and it was unfolding live on television, broadcast across the state.
“As you can see the two candidates who were invited to take part in this debate right now are not stepping up on the stage,” Rodriguez said calmly.
After a few moments, Crist strolled out. That still left one podium empty.
In what would soon be dubbed “Fangate,” Scott refused to come out because Crist’s team had placed a small fan under the podium where Crist stood.
“Somehow there is a fan there and for that reason, ladies and gentlemen, I am being told that Governor Scott will not join us for this debate,” Rodriguez continued. “Rosemary Goudreau, what can we say?”
The camera then turned to Rodriguez’s fellow moderator that evening, Sun Sentinel editorial page editor Rosemary Goudreau.
Inside the live TV standoff between Scott and Crist: “It was terrifying”
Goudreau remembers that moment alongside Rodriguez like it was yesterday.
“It was terrifying,” she said earlier this month. “I was speechless. I really didn’t know what to say or what I thought. But there was Eliott. He was so calm and so confident and spoke with such authority. And I remember looking in the wings — Governor Scott’s people were running their hands across their necks telling us to cut the program. But we were live on stations across the state, so we couldn’t just cut. And it was seven minutes — for seven minutes — that went on, and [Eliott] proved himself so fast on his feet and unflappable in a moment that I found to be sheer terror.”
Because Rodriguez refused to stop, Scott eventually came out and the debate went on, providing voters an opportunity to see and hear from both candidates.
That unflappable quality served Rodriguez well throughout his career. In a town like Miami, you have to be ready to deal with all sorts of characters, from Joe Carollo in the late 1990s to Joe Carollo in 2025, and everything in between.
A career defined by speaking truth to power
Eliott Rodriguez has spoken truth to power for decades.
During his time at CBS Miami, he covered major national political stories where they were happening, including presidential conventions and election nights.
Throughout his career, he also drilled down on the concerns of voters locally.
And before there was Facing South Florida on Sunday mornings, there was News and Views with Eliott Rodriguez, and before that, CBS4 Sunday Morning.
Those shows were a marketplace for ideas. For 12 years, he hosted those programs, always with an eye toward advancing the conversation — a conversation that consistently sought to make the community better.
