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As COVID Rages in Florida, DeSantis is Fighting With Everyone Except the Virus

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As COVID cases “climb to an all-time high” and hospitalizations surge across Florida, hospitals are reporting “having to put emergency room visitors in beds in hallways,” and front-line health care workers are exasperated as Ron DeSantis refuses to implement any sort of common-sense public health and safety measures. Instead of uniting Florida to keep families and kids safe, DeSantis is fighting with just about everyone — playing politics by thwarting nearly every effort made by officials and leaders to save lives and limit the spread of the virus. In just the past week, DeSantis has picked fights with:

  • School teachers and local public school officials: DeSantis is threatening to withhold paychecks from teachers and public school officials if they institute a mask requirement in classrooms to help keep kids safe.

  • One of Florida’s Biggest Industries: Instead of working to keep the economy open safely, DeSantis engaged in a court fightwith Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, where a judge recently ruled against DeSantis’s ban on vaccine mandates.

  • The President of the United States: After President Joe Biden criticized DeSantis for his blatant mishandling of the pandemic, DeSantis issued a petulant response, saying he did not want to “hear a blip about COVID from you, thank you.”

  • The CDC: After they issued new mask guidance, Ron DeSantis went after the CDC, mocking the science-backed public health guidelines to boost his own political image in a speech with far-right Republicans in Utah.

  • Hospitals: Rather than working with Florida hospitals, doctors, and nurses to address the record-breaking numbers of hospitalizations, DeSantis is declaring hospitals “open for business.” 

“Ron DeSantis seems to be fighting with everyone and everything in Florida except for the deadly virus that’s hospitalizing and killing people,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director Sam Newton. “His failures during this public health emergency he’s made even worse are astounding. DeSantis consistently puts his own politics ahead of trying to stop COVID-19 to save lives and safely grow the economy. Floridians deserve a governor who will bring people together during times of crisis, and rise above political divides to take on challenges facing families, students, small businesses, and workers.”