Crist Open to Reinstating Mask Mandates

Unless Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist (D) can pull a Hail Mary, it looks like Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will retain his post. A recent clip posted by the DeSantis War Room Twitter account, however, may be the final nail in Crist's campaign coffin. The brief video shows Crist at a recent campaign speech stating he is in favor of potentially reinstating mask mandates.

"'When asked if he would enact a statewide mask mandate if elected governor, @CharlieCrist responds that he would "follow the science". If you crave lockdowns, forced masking, and booster mandates, vote for Charlie Crist... or better yet, move to China,'" DeSantis War Room tweets.

In the clip, the man holding the camera asks Crist if he, as Governor, "would be open to mandating or regulating masks."

Crist answers that he is "open to doing what scientists think about it."

This response receives a small amount of applause from the audience, rendering a small amount of Crist's continued response unintelligible. He does, however, say that "I just read an article this morning," temporarily pausing to thank the cameraman for bringing the topic up, "so I'm going to the airport right after this. Going to Orlando. And I'm going to wear a mask on the plane. You don't have to anymore, but I'm going to, because Florida is experiencing an uptick that began this week."

"And it's not even the Omicron B2," Crist continues, "it's a new variant. So very poignant question."

This potential reinstatement of mask mandates by Crist reflects a previously voiced support for vaccine passports in 2021, somewhat hypocritically clashing with his support for abortion based on bodily autonomy that he tweeted in September.

Perhaps it continues to be unsurprising that a recent poll conducted by the University of North Florida shows DeSantis having a 14-point lead ahead of Crist.