Surprising no one who has been paying attention to his governorship, Ron DeSantis wasn't in Florida yesterday. The state's top executive, who seems concerned with just about everything but the state's dire coronavirus outbreak, was in St. Lake City to speak at a conservative policy conference. While speaking at the American Legislative Exchange Council, DeSantis mocked the CDC's recent recommendations of face masks for all individuals gathered indoors.
“Did you not get the CDC’s memo? I don’t see you complying,” DeSantis said to cheers of the 400+ attendees.
He went on to rail against the idea of mandates from the government to stem the spread of coronavirus.
“It is very important that we say unequivocally 'no to lockdowns, no to school closures, no to restrictions and no to mandates,'” he said.
DeSantis' speech also spoke of a fear of a "Faucian dystopia," a reference to federal coronavirus response head Dr. Anthony Fauci. DeSantis has previously railed against the top doc, going so far as to sell branded campaign merch that mocked Fauci's masking recommendations.
The speech came as Orange County declared a state of emergency over the rapid spread of the virus. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings announced a requirement that all non-union county employees be vaccinated by the end of September. Demings said that he would attempt to negotiate a similar requirement among the county's unionized employees.
Florida is currently home to around one in every five new coronavirus cases in the United States.
This article first appeared at our sister publication Orlando Weekly.
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This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2021.