Fried Calls for Ladapo's Nomination to be Withdrawn

Mounting criticism continues to pile on Florida’s Surgeon General Joe Ladapo after his alleged remarks to Florida state Senator Tina Polsky (D). Florida’s Senate President Wilton Simpson (R) chided the incident, and now Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) is calling for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) to withdraw Ladapo’s nomination. Condeming the situation, Fried, who’s also vying to unseat DeSantis, is calling for the Governor to “do right” by Floridians by “withdrawing Dr. Ladapo from consideration” to take on the top health position in the Sunshine State.

Senate President Simpson doubled down on his rebuke of the situation this week, saying that Dr. Ladapo “should have some manners.” Moreover, he said that although “we don’t have a mask mandate in the Florida Senate or a vaccine mandate or anything else… what I said was, ‘You are going to treat senators with respect.”

The comments come as Ladapo is scheduled to either be confirmed or rejected by the Senate, but Commissioner Fried is calling for Ladapo to be removed from the conversation altogether.

In a letter directed to the Governor, Fried wrote that she hoped DeSantis “will do right by the people of Florida in withdrawing Dr. Ladapo from consideration,” adding that “if his nomination should move forward, I will urge the Senate to reject Dr. Ladapo’s confirmation.”

Fried, who’s been heavily critical of the DeSantis Administration, added that Ladapo has spread “misinformation” regarding the COVID-19, noting that recent events regarding Ladapo “should have been disqualifying on their own,” and “taken as a whole, they are even more damning and deserving of your immediate withdrawal of your nomination of Dr. Ladapo to serve as Florida Surgeon General.”

She concluded the letter by stating that Florida’s “top public health official should be focused on the safety  of all Floridians, not prioritizing personal political posturing and promoting discriminatory and dangerous policy.”