NOT THE BEST MOVE

DeSantis Mocks CDC’s Mask Guidance as Florida Has 20 Percent of U.S. Cases

The governor made his remarks during a speech at a conservative policy conference in Utah on Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn’t seem to care much about the new CDC guidelines recommending vaccinated people mask up again in risky areas. Speaking to an unmasked crowd of 450 at the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, he thought the best approach would be to mock it. “Did you not get the CDC’s memo? I don’t see you complying,” he told the Salt Lake City crowd. DeSantis said in his speech that Florida would not impose any more lockdowns in response to the pandemic, even as the state is responsible for a fifth of the country’s COVID-19 cases and every county in the state is considered a “high” transmission zone by the CDC.

“It is very important,” he said, “that we say unequivocally no to lockdowns, no to school closures, no to restrictions and no to mandates.” He blamed the rising case counts as part of “a summer COVID season.”