TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a fierce opponent of coronavirus mask and vaccine mandates, grew visibly annoyed and admonished a group of students for wearing face masks at a news conference Wednesday.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
NEW: @GovRonDeSantis annoyed with USF students—
"You do not have to wear those masks. Please take them off. Honestly, it's not doing anything. We've gotta stop with this Covid theater. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous."https://t.co/7j1Pb2hV53 @WFLA pic.twitter.com/ZIOyTHLOh3
— Evan Donovan (@EvanDonovan) March 2, 2022
DeSantis, a Republican, approached the students and asked them to remove their masks as they waited for him at the news conference at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
“You do not have to wear those masks. I mean, please take them off. Honestly, it’s not doing anything. We’ve got to stop with this COVID theater. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous,” he said, letting out an audible sigh and shaking his head.
DeSantis is running for reelection and is considered to be a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate. His opposition to masks and vaccines has drawn national attention, and his administration has banned mask mandates in schools.
DeSantis’ office did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late last month eased its masking guidelines.
Thank you, finally a governor that says it the way it is. Someone standing up to this insanity
Desantis = trump Plus. I hope he runs in 2024
DeSantis is 100% right. Total theater!!
Oh any btw did anyone notice Dr Faucci has gone missing since the Ukraine war started?!?!
Bravo. Big Corporate should be on notice to turn away from doting after the false narrative around mask mandates that are propped-up by deceits of BigPharma and bought health institutions.
Poor media scum, masks are ineffective for the Corona virus, it is all political theater and he was right to tell them that, it is all politics as seen by the waiving of the mask mandate just in time for the sotu.
What a hypocrite, he said it is the freest state in the country and he is asking people to take their mask off. His miniscule mind cannot comprehend that maybe it has nothing to do with covid, there could be dozens of reasons as to why someone is wearing a mask. I have been wearing a mask long before covid and will continue to do so long after covid so I don’t have to breathe in the disgusting diseases that people like him carry. If it’s a free state let the kid wear a mask seeing as how he isn’t hurting anyone and this is still a free country.
He will never be President.
Look. He is the governor. He is not the principal of every school in the state. He is not on all the boards of education. He is not even the parent of the children he was upset with.
He needs to calm down and keep in his lane.