Republican Governor Ron DeSantis (FL) responded on Thursday to critics who were angry he told students this week at a school event that they could remove their face masks, referring to those people as part of the “COVID theater.”
DeSantis included video of the event in a fresh video that he shared via Twitter with the caption, “The political science show cannot continue. It is curtain call for covid-19 theater.”
WATCH:
The political science show cannot go on.
It’s curtain call for COVID theater. pic.twitter.com/CoUIC6NX83
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) March 3, 2022
DeSantis’ footage revealed the original interaction between the Governor and students, and then went to the State of the Union address – where almost nobody was wearing a mask after Monday’s rollback of the Capitol Hill mandate.
“Do not follow the science, but watch the political science,” the video said, revealing photos of Dem Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams not using a mask — surrounded by elementary students who were masked up.
The video went on to reveal Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom (CA) and Democrat LA Mayor Eric Garrett, mask-free at multiple football games — and then ended with the news update saying a number of Dem governors had gotten onboard with the reversal of statewide mask mandates.
It went to DeSantis at CPAC then, who stated that, “Florida led when it mattered. We led early on when the world was coming on our shoulders. Freedom has won in the Sunshine State!”
The original footage had DeSantis walking up to a lectern to talk to the students who were standing behind him.
“You don’t have to wear the masks. Please take them off. Honestly, it is not doing anything. We have gotta stop with this Covid theater,” DeSantis said, and people laughed. “So if you want to wear it, fine, but it is ridiculous.”
A couple of the kids did remove their masks after those comments, but according to new reports, one parent said her son was pressured into doing this.
Parents said that DeSantis was a “bully.”
The media coverage that came painted DeSantis — who clearly said that students could keep wearing the masks if they wanted to — as a bully who was putting pressure on kids for his own political agenda.
