Florida is seeing a COVID surge and younger people are getting hit the hardest, but if you listen to Gov. Ron DeSantis, you’d think everything was ok. 
As the state’s leader, DeSantis has used lies and propaganda to intimidate educators, pushes a far-right agenda, and pursues a hard line to perpetuate voter suppression statewide. He berated Anthony Fauci Chief Medical Advisor to the President of United States, and sold T-shirts that berated Fauci and were emblazoned with the slogan “How can I drink a beer with a mask on.”
He also declared COVID a seasonal event, against the science provided by teams of doctors.
DeSantis’ mismanagement of the COVID pandemic deserves the attention of all US and Florida voters.
DeSantis’ Lied About COVID For Political Gain
DeSantis used the COVID epidemic t push his “freedom” campaign. But in practice, his version of “freedom” meant that public health concerns were ignored in order to allow businesses to stay open during a raging epidemic. DeSantis’ press secretary, Fred Piccolo Jr., lied to the public when he reported “we can tell you definitively that Florida is counting deaths that were not directly caused by COVID-19.”
According to the Columbia Law Journal, Piccolo sought to downplay the COVID-19 pandemic in other ways. On one occasion, he erroneously tweeted: “we had one COVID death in Florida yesterday . . yes you read that right. One.” In fact, on the day in question, there were 47 deaths.
In an Oct. 29, 2021 interview on FOX news, DeSantis bragged that Florida’s then-recent COVID-19 data Host Laura Ingraham introduced DeSantis by saying, “Florida is one of the big COVID success stories that the media would prefer to ignore altogether. Now, the Sunshine State now has one of the lowest daily case and death rates out there.”
That was not true. A chart from FactCheck.org showed that Florida has the 10th highest case rate — more than 17,000 per 100,000 people — when measured by its total number of cases during the pandemic in the US. As of Nov. 5., 2021, when the epidemic was in full gear, Florida’s numbers were higher than the national case rate of 13,995 per 100,000 people.
More recently, the Palm Beach Post on Nov. 9, 2022, said Florida ranks first in the nation in COVID deaths, which is more astounding considering Florida ranks second with the highest numbers of senior citizens in any state. (Maine has the highest percentage of residents 65 and over; Florida has 4.6 million seniors.)
The Post said that Florida’s high death rate among seniors “should bring shame to a state that likes to think of itself as being ‘free:’ The coronavirus has killed more people aged 65 and over in Florida than any other state in the nation.”
DeSantis made political points on the deaths of older Floridians. He will repeat this behavior in office and if he runs for president.
For more evidence about DeSantis’ lies, watch this video from CNN.
