Governor of Florida Ron DeSantisThe campaign to stop COVID-19 to restrict and consolidate his power in the state has aroused the outrage of local officials, including the Republican mayor of Hialeah, who called the governor a “dictator” who banned wearing masks.
Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, who serves a staunch Republican city in Miami-Dade County, often criticizes the governor for not allowing local leaders to make decisions on how to best protect residents during the pandemic .
“He is a dictator,” Hernandez Say“This is a shame because we are paying the price.”
Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’ press secretary, challenged the criticism and defended the governor’s use of administrative power to limit the power of local officials who “exceed their powers and violate individual rights.”
“Anyone calling Governor DeSantis a dictator is absurd,” Pushau said in a statement, according to Washington post. “When did dictators begin to place individual rights over unrestricted expansion of government power?”
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With the surge in COVID-19 cases in Florida this summer, DeSantis, a possible presidential candidate in 2024, prevented local officials from implementing coronavirus restrictions, including restrictions on businesses, further lockdowns, and mandatory requirements for vaccines and masks.
He also banned school districts from requiring children to wear masks and threatened to withhold the wages of educators who choose to disobey his orders. The decision is inconsistent with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that “regardless of the vaccination status, all teachers, faculty, staff, students, and K-12 school visitors must wear masks indoors.”
Recently, Florida led the United States in the number of new coronavirus cases, with the highest rate of hospitalizations for children in the country. The Sunshine State reported 25,991 new cases of the virus on Saturday, another daily record. There were nearly 150,000 new cases in the past week, much higher than in much larger states such as Texas (89,666) and California (54,325).
The governor did not take measures to limit the spread of the virus, but Surrounded by controversial health experts Those who promote more targeted responses to the epidemic include Stanford University Professor Jay Batacharia, who is a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration.
This anti-blocking document that advocates protecting high-risk groups and allowing others to develop immunity through natural infection has been widely criticized by mainstream health experts and supporters of mitigation measures. Some people call it a “mass infection plan.”
DeSantis has Often criticized The epidemic agreement stipulated by the government.In the interview Fox News On Thursday, he called this precautionary measure “the greatest threat to freedom” in his life.
