A Daily Beast
Is Governor Ron DeSantis his own SUPER spreader?
On Saturday, Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Republican leaders turned the backyard of the governor’s mansion into a GOP gloatfest with a pandemic twist. Some leading figures in the Sunlight State’s Coronavir Chaos Party have tweeted photos and video DeSantis is addressing a mass of roughly 50 GOP core organizers. Almost no one wore a mask – including DeSantis, who showed up with a mask at Donald Trump’s strange vaccination meeting on Tuesday in DC. One picture, tweeted by Christian Ziegler, vice president of the Florida Republican Party, shows behind a unmasked DeSantis, facing its guests, most of whom were elderly – with a particularly high risk of death through COVID-19. Ziegler boasted, “Florida is in great hands, and in this photo, everyone will work hell to smash those who run against him to keep them going.” A GOP official republished the same photo the next day. This time, he identified another reliable target between Republicans and DeSantis: “It will be a lot of fun for him to work and crush the Socialists in Florida.” Florida GOP President Joe Gruters, a provincial senator, tweeted the photo from the crowd from a different angle. it showed him the governor. Gruters wrote, “Thank you to Governor @GovRonDeSantis for loving freedom and freedom and for all your help in achieving record success in this cycle here in Florida.” Gruters also tweeted a two-minute clip from DeSantis, who cunningly suggested that he continue to support the current commander-in-chief’s false narrative that Joe Biden had won the presidency only because of massive election fraud. “In Florida, people can trust that [election] over the deck and they did well, ”DeSantis moaned. “We don’t wait three weeks and then replace the winner with voters, and all the things you see are going around.” Gruters, Ziegler, and the GOP foot soldiers spun it up, cheering on their governor. But aside from MAGA’s conspiracies, the scene was a compelling antecedent to the problem a new Biden administration faces in coronavirus-skeptical states like Florida, where DeSantis has tripled its strategy of mocking mask assignments and non-core business shutdowns. and allows for large gatherings. The photos show why Miami’s public schools could be the next Ron DeSantis Coronavirus Debacle Meanwhile, experts have said they could have put their own dice in jeopardy. “Unfortunately, this event contradicts the advice of public health experts in many ways. ”Jet Roberts, an infectious disease expert and professor at the University of South Florida, told The Daily Beast. “This event could unnecessarily expose people to the coronavirus.” @ GovRonDeSantis @FloridaGOP Turns to the generals of Grassroots County from the steps of the governor’s castle. >> Florida is in great hands, and in this photo, everyone is going to work hell to run against anyone to keep going. FLAPol itself pic.twitter.com/zmE89IVcle >> – Christian Ziegler @ (@ChrisMZiegler December 5, 2020 Roberts added that although no case has been involved so far, “it is quite possible” that DeSantis hosted a so-called superspreader event, Ziegler and a DeSantis spokesman did not respond to requests to comment on the story.In the months before and immediately after the election, DeSantis stood out with its cowboy approach to the pandemic.One of the last governors to shut down his state was particularly aggressive. A recent Sun-Sentinel investigation found that the governor and his administration had ordered county council officials at the Department of Health not to discuss COVID-19 in the public before the election.The governor’s office disputed the paper’s characterization insist that DeSantis consistently support the precaution of COVID-19. But from the arbitrary reopening of bars to putting pressure on schools under personal pressure, the governor was shaken by virtually every pressure group imaginable because of the epidemic recklessness. At the same time, DeSantis enabled COVID-19 deniers by hiring an Uber-driven conspiracy theory as a data analyst and allowed his staff to share death records with a conservative blogger who described columns about the severity of the pandemic. At a news conference on Nov. 30, DeSantis reiterated its false claims that mask orders and closures are ineffective in proliferation. Concerning the masks, DeSantis said, “I don’t think you need to mount it with a bayonet for that. People’s fines are completely overstretched. “His position runs counter to Biden’s plan to ask Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days of administration and require masks to be worn for interstate travel on planes, trains and buses. DeSantis is also putting the efforts of Miami-Dade’s new mayor at a disadvantage in the county, which has the highest number of coronaviruses in the state and is experiencing a third boom, from reinstating fines for not wearing masks. County Mayor Daniella Levina Cava, who revealed last week that she herself contracted COVID-19, said in a magnification call on Dec. 4 that she has been unable to speak to DeSantis since the election, according to the Miami Herald. Images of the GOP at the governor’s mansion did not generate news, but retweeted them hundreds of times, including among DeSantis ’toughest critics. Among them: Orlando State Representative Anna Eskamani and Rebekah Jones, a Florida COVID-19 dashboard architect and former Department of Health data researcher who claims he was fired because he refused to manipulate data on Florida coronavirus numbers. On Monday, after state police raided his home with weapons used to seize a computer and cell phone, Jones accused the DeSantis administration of targeting him by launching a criminal investigation. However, according to the search warrant, someone using Jones ’IP address has illegally accessed the state’s emergency alert email system to send an unauthorized mass email, disputing this claim. “DeSantis tried – and failed – to shut down and silence it. since May, ”Jones told The Daily Beast. “It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now.” “He pointed a gun in my face”: Florida police attacked COVID-19 dashboard architect Eskamani, Eskamani, state legislature said the photos were involuntarily ignored by COVID-19 guidelines established by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), such as they encourage people to wear a mask when they are in close contact with each other, even outdoors. In September, DeSantis lifted most of the state’s measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus, including an enforcement order that limited social and leisure gatherings to a maximum of 10 people. “The photos showed how reckless our governor is in COVID-19,” Eskamani told The Daily Beast. “He doesn’t model good behavior and takes his role for granted. Totally discouraging. “Ignoring cases, hospital care, and data growth, which consistently proves that social distance works — not to mention the momentary incredible stress of health care workers — is“ quite deaf, ”Roberts added. On Dec. 5, the day of the incident, the Florida health department reported more than 10,000 cases for the third consecutive day. Since then, the state has added approximately 23,000 new cases, bringing Florida’s total to 1,073,770 cases since the start of the pandemic. As for the GOP rally, a seeming precedent for White House rose garden partisans in the commercials was Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination. According to Dr. Marissa Levine, another professor of infectious diseases at the University of South Florida, outdoor, well-ventilated events can also be considered a high risk if there is a high level of attendance, no facial coverage, and prolonged contact time. But with cases setting new records across the country, DeSantis seemed determined to set a new standard for pandemic absurdity. “This, of course, does not send the right message about our efforts to fight the pandemic,” Levine said. More information at The Daily Beast. tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here. Download our latest news to your inbox every day. Register now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside delves into the stories that matter to you. Know more.
