DeSantis Has Put His 2024 Campaign Before Public Health, 'Never Trumpers' Say
If Floridians die of COVID: ‘he doesn’t give a damn’
Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, is prioritizing his potential 2024 bid for the GOP nomination for president over common-sense measures to protect Floridians from infection by the virus which causes COVID-19.
So say “Never Trumper” Republicans opposed to DeSantis’ policies.
DeSantis — a loyal backer of Donald Trump's — is among those Republican governors who have taken a more political and ideological approach to the pandemic in their states.
For instance, the governor of the Sunshine State signed an executive order banning any mask mandates across Florida.
New cases of COVID-19 have been exploding in Florida. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 23,903 new coronavirus cases in Florida earlier this month — the state's highest single-day total since the start of the pandemic.
“We are not seeing this from the Republican governors of places like Maryland or Ohio or Utah, all of whom have done the responsible things. But those guys are not running for president,” said Charlie Sykes, a staunch opponent of Trump and editor-in-chief of The Bulwark website. “So, Ron DeSantis has put his 2024 campaign ahead of everything and right now he says, 'Okay, this is what the base wants, I’m raising money off of this, you know, selling t-shirts, making fun of Dr. Fauci,' and he's bet his own political future and the lives of potentially thousands of people in Florida that this is a political winner.
“I also find it extraordinary that they are willing to double down at this particular point, that at the same time they are begging for ventilators because the number of hospitalizations is so high,” Sykes added. “They are still trying to use the power of the state to tell private companies — by the way, that’s mind-blowing to me, private companies, you can’t make decisions about what’s best for your employees and your customers.
“These are conservative Republicans who say they are for small government and for freedom, and yet they are trying to deny people, entities, organizations the freedom to take steps that will save the lives of their own constituencies. Political tribalism is a hell of a drug,” he said.
Rick Wilson, a former top Republican strategist, said that he reviewed DeSantis’ public schedule recently: No calls with Department of Health, no calls with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), no calls with hospitals, no calls with county health officials.
“He is going around doing a Ron DeSantis love me tour tomorrow in the State of Florida. I think it's possible, he just doesn't give a damn. I think it's possible, he just doesn't care. And you know, as much as we like to think of Florida as this crazed, wacky state, I've got to tell you, if this had happened during [the governorships of] Bob Graham, or Jeb Bush or Charlie Crist, we would have done this the right way.”
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