Charlie Crist Disappointed in ‘not-so-Special Session’

As the Florida House’s special session is underway, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has received criticism over his opposition of employer vaccine mandates. It’s alleged that the Governor wanted lawmakers to discuss a number of concerns related to vaccine mandates, and one of them could be the state sidestepping the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In response, one vocal critic of the special session is Florida Rep. Charlie Crist (D), who is also vying to unseat Governor DeSantis. The Florida Democrat shared his disapproval of the session, expressing that instead he was referring to it as a “not-so-special session.”

In commenting on the session this week, the former Governor of Florida shared his disapproval of the special session, arguing that Governor DeSantis is trying to ensure that businesses cannot make decisions for themselves, which has been an important argument point for Republicans during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic regarding masks and vaccines.

“What he’s attempting to do, and I think some of our friends in the legislature are trying to make it a little more rational than the governor’s irrational call, is to try to make it so that businesses can’t make decisions for themselves, can’t make decisions about what’s best for the safety not only of their employees but their customers,” said Crist.

“This week, instead of calling back the legislature to focus on issues facing real Floridians, Gov. DeSantis and his administration have opted to continue their assault on common sense COVID safety measures by calling a Special Session to ban business and hospitals from implementing the federal vaccine requirements that would keep their employees and workers, and customers, more safe,” Crist added.

Comparing the session to “political theater,” and he inferred that DeSantis is being hypocritical with his stance, commenting that DeSantis “talks about freedom,” but “he’s taking away freedom.”

In turn, Crist feels that the Governor is “trying to impose his will on our state and on our business.”