Gov. Ron DeSantis has built a far right-wing anti-vaxx, anti-mask, anti-“CRT,” anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion, anti-“elite” and so-called “free speech” empire in Florida, never worrying about public perception and in fact actually touting his anti-institutionalist policies.
But the Sunshine state’s Republican governor apparently was very concerned that Americans would think he ordered high school students – minors he was using as a backdrop to promote a new education initiative – to wear face masks.
DeSantis has all but waged war against face masks, especially for school children, despite dozens of studies proving they lower the risk of coronavirus contagion.
On Wednesday DeSantis was so concerned about public perception he told a group of high school kids to remove their masks.
He says he only did, so no one would think he ordered them to wear them.
“I didn’t want it to be thinking that like they were told to do this by me,” DeSantis told Fox News propagandist Tucker Carlson Thursday evening.
“Well, Tucker, none of the adults were wearing masks,” explained DeSantis, apparently very concerned about the blowback he’s receiving for bullying and berating the children.
“It seemed to me that someone told those kids they had to do it,” he added, correctly. At least one of the students was ordered by his mother to wear a mask for his protection and hers.
“So I just wanted to make it very clear. They do not need to be doing it. Obviously in Florida, it’s a free state, you can do it. But I think it’s also important to point out that there’s no reason to do it,” he added, falsely, “for young and healthy kids, especially in the state of Florida, we never had a mask mandate, of course, but our guidance from our health department is not to wear these cloth masks.”
The CDC has disagreed, and currently, based on its new guidance, still says the county DeSantis was visiting is high risk and masks are therefore recommended.
“And so I was I didn’t want it to be thinking that like they were told to do this by me, because I certainly wouldn’t do that. And you know, they talk about oh, by letting someone have a choice to take off their mask and welcoming that choice, that that’s somehow bullying.”
Ordering a student you don’t know to remove his or her mask, which DeSantis did, is bullying. It’s also potentially endangering their health and the health of their family, as one student’s mother told a local news station.
“Tucker, bullying is locking kids at a school, which they did. Bullying is forcing kids to wear masks for eight hours a day, which they did for two years and are only stopping now because the polling’s changed. Bullying is kicking people out of work because of vaccine mandates. We fought all of those policies in Florida, we lifted people up and we liberated them from local school boards and governments that imposed them.”
To date, Florida has the third-highest coronavirus case count and death rate, with more than 70,000 Floridians dead from COVID.
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