For the better part of the year, President Joe Biden (D) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) have engaged in a back and forth regarding vaccine passports and mask mandates. Having already expressed his opposition to both, recent weeks have not been favorable to the Governor as he has received political blows when it comes to schools enacting mask mandates.
Members of his administration have also expressed their disapproval of mask mandates and vaccine mandates, and one of those members voicing her opinion is Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody (R). Having just announced her intention to run for reelection, Moody this week expressed that vaccine mandates should not occur and that instead vaccine mandates are "undermining" Floridians when they should “seek out information about the vaccine and make a deliberate, informed decision about their health.”
Last week, Governor DeSantis shared a plan that would offer a $5,000 signing bonus to new law enforcement officers in the Sunshine State.
With President Biden’s recent call for vaccine mandates to be implemented, Moody expressed that “this does not and will not help.”
Deliver remarks not only next to Governor DeSantis but also Florida’ Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis (R), Moody further explained that “we’ve seen a lot of egregious examples where politicians across our county thought they had a lot more power than they actually did: locking people in their homes, keeping them from participating in religious ceremonies and worship.”
Moody also signaled out the City of Gainesville, explaining that “as the state seeks to ensure adequate police protection for its citizens, the City of Gainesville is undermining those efforts, threatening to fire police, first responders, and other city employees over the deeply person decision to get a COVID-19 vaccine.”
Beginning on Thursday, the Governor plans to enact fines against schools, businesses or government agencies that require visitors to show proof that they’ve been vaccinated.
In a statement, DeSantis called vaccine passports “political,” adding that “it’s about using government power to control.”
