One of the most notorious features of former president (and candidate) Donald Trump’s political campaign in the last month has been his constant criticism of Governor Ron DeSantis, who recently announced his intention to reach the White House in 2024.
One of Trump’s most recent criticisms of DeSantis had to do with the Florida governor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Why do they say that “DeSanctus” did a good job? New York had fewer deaths. And it also closed the state and even its beaches” than DeSantis, Trump said in a video reviewed by The Hill news portal.
DeSantis, who has preferred to stay out of the controversy with Trump, did not remain silent this time, and defended himself against the questioning of the former US president.
“This is new. Six months ago, she would never have said such a thing. In fact, he used to stress how good a state Florida was,” DeSantis told NewsNation correspondent Kellie Meyer at a press conference about Trump’s comments.
And he added that: “Damn, his whole family (Trump’s) moved to Florida during my tenure.”
Data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) corroborate part of Trump’s claim: Florida, indeed, was the third state with the most deaths caused by COVID-19 in 2021, ahead of New York State.
However, The Hill also reported that the death rate per 100,000 inhabitants during 2021 in Florida was not the highest in the country. Specifically, Florida was ranked 18th.
Despite this, DeSantis did order that a quarantine period be established in Florida, as well as the closure of all businesses (except those designated as essential). Rather, DeSantis was questioned for implementing this measure later than other US governors, since he did so in April 2020.
The Florida governor was also criticized for lifting the quarantine at the end of 2020, when the number of cases and hospitalizations was highest, according to CNN.
Keep reading:
– Five high-profile politicians who supported Donald Trump and now support Ron DeSantis
– Donald Trump criticized DeSantis again: this time he questioned his handling of the pandemic in Florida
– Governor Ron DeSantis criticizes debt ceiling agreement: “They bankrupt the US”