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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed Democrats in Washington, D.C., for pushing “COVID theater” for two years only to become infected with coronavirus in recent weeks, including some members of the Biden administration who attended an elite Washington dinner.
“Some people will say ‘Oh, they’re hypocrites.’ Yeah they are, but that’s not the issue,” DeSantis said at a press conference in South Florida Tuesday when asked about the COVID outbreak in DC.
“The issue is that if they thought their policies really were necessary, and these mitigations really were effective, they would be abiding by it,” DeSantis added. “They are not abiding by it because they know it’s all about politics and control.”
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California pictured at a White House event. Pelosi has since tested positive for COVID-19, her spokesman says.
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
DeSantis has come under sharp criticism from Democrats and liberal media pundits for his unwillingness to impose COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates and lifting emergency restrictions far sooner than blue states. Without naming names, he called out Democrats who have escaped to Florida during the winter months.
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“If I had a dollar for every lockdown politician that escaped their own policies to come to our free state, I would be set for life,” DeSantis said.
Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been among those spotted maskless in Miami Beach during the winter holidays and Democratic Governor’s Association also held a retreat in Palm Beach in February, according to Business Insider.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses a joint session of a legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla.
(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
DeSantis’ comments come amid a serious coronavirus outbreak in D.C., that stemmed in part from the ritzy white-tie Gridiron Dinner held on April 2 for the first time since the pandemic with about 630 guests, including members of Congress, the Cabinet and media members – many of whom were seen mingling maskless at the marquee event.
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Among the attendees who tested positive after the event– which did have a vaccine requirement – were Attorney General Merrick Garland, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Jamal Simmons, the Vice President’s Communications Director, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Valerie Biden Owens, the president’s sister, First lady Jill Biden’s press secretary Michael LaRosa and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.
Separately, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also tested positive last week.
President Joe Biden kisses House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., during an Affordable Care Act event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. At left is House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., and right is Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa. Pelosi has tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic, her spokesman Drew Hammill said in a tweet Thursday, April 7. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Pelosi was quick to back mask mandates with fines for lawmakers who violated them, social distancing and proxy voting at the House of Representatives with the start of the pandemic. But with the widespread availability of vaccines and boosters, restrictions have loosened in recent months to mark President Biden’s first formal State of the Union address to all of Congress.
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On Tuesday, DeSantis stood by his approach of lax coronavirus restrictions.
“I just want to be very clear that as long as I sit in the chair in which I sit, no Floridian will be restricted, mandated, or locked down in any possible way,” DeSantis said.
