Aside from signing into law popular, red meat bills like the Parental Rights in Education, “Stop Woke Act,” and the controversial 6-week abortion ban, lifting COVID restrictions first during the pandemic has catapulted Gov. Ron DeSantis into the political stardom he currently finds himself in.
CBS Miami’s Jim DeFede recently filmed a very detailed and substantive hour-long documentary of Gov. DeSantis’s rise from an obscure member of Congress to arguably the most popular Republican governor in the nation.
The documentary, “DeSantis: Inside his rise from obscure member of Congress to presidential contender” can be seen as a play-by-play look at how DeSantis handled the Covid pandemic, pointing to some alleged missteps, including shutting the state down and threatening to close down business who did not conform with COVID-19 restrictions but really focusing on the victories he is credited for accomplishing throughout the state.
During the onset of the pandemic, then Director of Emergency Management (FDEM), now Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D), was the person solely in charge of running the state’s effort to mitigate the spread of the virus and to make sure that all the COVID response moving pieces were well-oiled and running correctly.
Appearing in the CBS documentary, Rep. Moskowitz spoke about telling his “Democratic friends all the time” after he left the FDEM, that in his travels with DeSantis, he was able to see how everyday Floridians believed DeSantis “got it right.”
“And you need to understand, you think the Governor got COVID wrong. They think the Governor got COVID right, not only did he get it right, he got it right more than anyone,” said Rep. Moskowitz.
Ironically, DeSantis and Moskowitz were on the same page in dealing with COVID, but because he was a known Democrat, the ire from Florida Democrats fell on DeSantis, even though Moskowitz was part of the administration.
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Former President Donald Trump and his presidential campaign have already zeroed in on DeSantis Covid-19 bona fides, accusing him of pushing a “lying record on COVID” and incredulously stating the New York State under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, did a better job of handling the pandemic.
“President Trump saved millions of lives, opposed mandates, and embraced the Federalist system to allow States to make the decisions best for their people. Ron DeSantis continues to lie about his record, as he personally oversaw mass vaccinations and imposed radical lockdowns,” stated the Trump campaign
Yes, DeSantis was lock step with the COVID lockdowns, but after seeing how Floridians were responding to the restrictions and how the pandemic was all-but breaking the backs of Floridians, DeSantis decided to start lifting those restrictions, which brought on an onslaught of condemnation from Florida Democrats.
DeSantis was labeled “Deathsantis” and other demeaning terms because many more Floridians had died of COVID after he lifted restrictions and during virus surges, particularly when the Delta variant began to surge.
After he urged the Republican-controlled state legislature to introduce legislation that would bar vaccine passports, mask mandates, and vaccine mandates, Democrats ramped up their criticisms and all but directly accused DeSantis of killing thousands of Floridians.
DeSantis appeared to weather the storm, and won the overall COVID argument, or political war against Democrats because he crushed them in the 2022 midterm elections by 19 percentage points.
President Trump recently questioned why “DeSanctus” is credited of doing a “good job” with the pandemic, adding that “New York had fewer deaths.”
According to recent article posted comparing the death rates in both Florida and New York state, there were more deaths in New York state than in Florida.
“It’s a fraught comparison, however: New York, excluding New York City, logged more Covid-19 deaths by population (269 per 100,000 residents) than Florida, which recorded 245 per 100,000 residents, and in New York City, the death rate was 376 per 100,000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s age-adjusted statistics,” stated the Forbes story.
