Mayor of Miami Beach Rips DeSantis For His COVID-19 Response

Speaking connected CNN, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) for his administration’s COVID-19 response.

“Listen, frankly, astatine the opening of this pandemic, helium [DeSantis] was beauteous good,” Gelber said. “He promoted section control, helium complimented us, we complimented him, helium utilized maine successful immoderate of his promotional videos saying helium was doing a bully occupation and past helium conscionable realized it was a governmental accidental and past helium made this astir immoderate expected state which, of course, it’s not.”

“We necessitate vaccines for kids successful school,” helium added. “We necessitate radical to bash things that don’t endanger their neighbors oregon strangers even.”

Gelber added that “the contributing origin to this large tragedy” has been that DeSantis has not treated the pandemic similar “a wellness situation oregon immoderate different situation similar a hurricane erstwhile we each basal unneurotic and archer the nationalist the aforesaid thing.”

“He has made this a wedge issue. And successful a wellness attraction situation erstwhile you marque thing a wedge contented and you disagreement the nationalist truthful that fractional the nationalist does 1 happening and fractional the nationalist does the other, you get what we’re getting close now, which is variants inactive coming,” helium said.

You tin ticker Gelber’s interrogation below.

Miami Beach @MayorDanGelber connected Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R-FL) handling of COVID:

"He has made this a wedge issue. And successful a wellness attraction situation erstwhile you marque thing a wedge contented and you disagreement the nationalist … you get what we're getting close now, which is variants inactive coming." pic.twitter.com/0Vwipc3RM7

— The Recount (@therecount) January 3, 2022

DeSantis has for months been accused of downplaying the pandemic’s severity and undermining the recovery, allowing COVID-19 to dispersed unchecked successful Florida, He has said that whether oregon not a idiosyncratic gets a COVID-19 vaccine comes down to “personal choice.”

The Florida Department of Health earlier launched an enquiry into the state’s reporting of COVID-19 deaths aft DeSantis suggested that the authoritative reports overstate the fig of deaths. The University of Florida has initiated an probe into researchers’ claims that they felt pressured to destruct COVID-19 information aft a report said they were told “not to knock the Governor of Florida [Republican Ron DeSantis] oregon UF policies related to COVID-19 successful media interactions.”