DeSantis Vows to Dismantle 'COVID Cartel'

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) continue to trade political blows on the national stage. Vowing to dismantle the “COVID Cartel,” DeSantis issued proposals for the Sunshine State.

Both Govs/ DeSantis and Newsom have stirred speculation regarding 2024 presidential runs. With Democrats vying for another candidate aside from Biden, and with Republicans rallying around DeSantis, both are primed to lead their respective parties on the campaign trail. Newsom argues that California is the freest state while DeSantis maintains that Florida is the freest state in the country, and to keep it as such, DeSantis says he will push back against COVID restrictions.

In a message sent to supporters, Friends of Ron DeSantis highlighted that the Governor has “sent a message to the COVID Cartel in Washington.” The message according to the DeSantis team is that “tyrannical policies are dead on arrival in the Sunshine State.”

Specifically, Governor DeSantis has “proposed legislation to ensure Floridians are permanently protected from the biomedical security state, so that Florida will always remain freedom’s linchpin.”

This legislation would permanently ban vaccine passports, “ensure that students in Florida can never be required to get COVID shots or wear masks to go to school,” “permanently ban employers from hiring, firing, or discriminating against employees based on mRNA jabs,” and “protect medical professionals’ freedom of speech – the opposite of California’s new law, which censors doctors who dissent from the COVID cartel.”

Newsom has not responded to the message, but in the beginning of the year, he took a political swipe at Governor DeSantis, saying that "California is the true freedom state."

On social media, Newsom shared that he's committed to "protecting liberty from a rising tide of oppression taking root in statehouses. Weakness, masquerading as strength. Small men in big offices. Freedom is who we are – anyone from anywhere can accomplish anything here."