Gov. Ron DeSantis is yet again attemptin to parlay COVID-19 controversy into campaign cash.
The Governor’s re-election campaign sent an essay to donors on the topic of “speaking the truth” about so-called “COVID theater.”
The fundraising appeal doubled as both a defense of DeSantis’ decision to scold high school students who were wearing masks at a press conference of his Wednesday, and an opportunity to juxtapose that controversy with some “whataboutism” toward leading Democrats.
“While in Tampa, I told a group of students masks were ridiculous, and they didn’t have to wear them if they didn’t want to. Predictably, the leftist propagandists in our media had a meltdown and called me a “bully” for allowing children to breathe fresh air,” the Governor groused.
DeSantis juxtaposed the situation in Tampa with the mask-free scene at Tuesday’s State of the Union address, before issuing a callback to when a Georgia Democrat was photographed with students.
“Where was the media meltdown when failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams recently took a maskless photo in front of students who were forced to wear masks?”
The Governor’s messaging appeared in the wake of reports from WFLA and other sources that went viral in the hours after he attempted to get students to shed their masks.
“You do not have to wear those masks,” Gov. DeSantis said. “I mean, please take them off. Honestly, it’s not doing anything and we’ve gotta stop with this COVID theater. So if you want to wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous.”
Asked about the mask back and forth, a spokesperson for the Governor didn’t back down.
“As the Governor said, ‘you can wear them if you want’ but there’s ‘no evidence’ masks make any difference,” said press secretary Christina Pushaw to WFLA. She also argued DeSantis wasn’t admonishing the kids, but rather, he “was admonishing those who promoted and coerced / forced masking as a way to end the pandemic. It’s theater.”
DeSantis’ campaign has already packaged the video.
The political science show cannot go on.
It’s curtain call for COVID theater. pic.twitter.com/CoUIC6NX83
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) March 3, 2022
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