Democrat state Senator says Ron DeSantis wants working class ‘exposed to the virus’
Sen. Vic Torres didn't hold back Saturday..

Victor Torres
Vic Torres says DeSantis doesn't care about the unemployed.

At least one prominent Florida Democrat argues that the Governor is deliberately jobbing people out of jobless benefits and, instead, wants them working and “exposed to the virus.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis, said Sen. Vic Torres, “doesn’t want” the unemployed “to get benefits.”

“He wants you to get exposed to the virus. He wants you out there. He doesn’t care what happens to you or your family,” argued the Orlando Democrat.

Torres’ comments about what the Governor calls a “smart, safe, and step-by-step” reopening of the state were made on a Saturday afternoon call in support of the Joe Biden Presidential campaign.

“Republicans want to put you back to work where it is unsafe … opening up everything they can so they don’t have to pay the unemployment,” he contended.

The lack of Republican support for a Special Session, which Democrats sought earlier this month but ito no avail, showed Torres that they “don’t want to help the workers of the state of Florida.”

The anxieties they stoke follow up on a Democratic fundraising appeal to people angry that barber shops and beauty salons are once again open, a message that hit similar themes.

That Thursday pitch contended that the Governor‘s decision to allow these shops to open demonstrated a “blatant disregard for the people of Florida” that “essentially forces workers to either risk infection in the service industry or lose their source of income.”

Meanwhile, Torres isn’t the only prominent Democrat expressing grave concerns about the Governor’s posture at this point in the extended coronavirus response period.

Nikki Fried, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said that Floridians “can’t trust the information” coming out of the state regarding COVID-19 testing numbers in the wake of the dismissal of data scientist Rebekah Jones.

Fried went on to describe a “dangerous pattern … of misinformation,” especially regarding prisons and nursing homes, two sectors prone to institutional spread.

“This is a pattern of deception we’ve seen from the Governor over and over again,” Fried argued Saturday morning on MSNBC.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. His work also can be seen in the Washington Post, the New York Post, the Washington Times, and National Review, among other publications. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


14 comments

  • Reb

    May 24, 2020 at 11:35 am

    I had thought Senator Torres was different, not the typical Democrat, but, it seems he is just like the rest of them, so sad. He should be ashamed of himself for what he said.

    • Bobby Deal

      May 25, 2020 at 10:33 am

      As the election gets closer this type rhetoric will get worse from Democrats.

  • Nancy A

    May 24, 2020 at 11:54 am

    I know he is right. What else is one to think after what these fools do? Lying to the people. Hiding truth, facts, science from public. If any Democrat Governor would do such these so called conservatives would have a fit. This is the deep state.
    They want to push the front line people back to work so their huge mega contributors keep them funded and in power. When they start sending their family members, the selves out to clean ER rooms, feed and clean the Nursing home Patients, drive the buses, chop and pack meat in a meat packing plant, nurse those with ventilators or be an aide to those front line health care workers, become a cashier in a grocery store, and do this with the same PPEs they have or none, then maybe I will believe they care . Until then smart thinking people keep practicing safe distancing, stay home as much as you can. Let those who are so cavalier do as they may , risk their own lives. The sorry part of that is what they do to the health care workers when they get sick out of ignorance and defiance. The other sad part is they forgot that we are a negative Liberty country, meaning one can be free but not took the point of endangering others. But they have no united spirit, and no clue what a negative liberty, positive liberty even means. We have a President and a GOP, which I was part of many years ago, on the inside as it started to morph into what it is today, that has no real concern for the people, with the exception of the 1% and the mega corps that own them.

    • Bobby Deal

      May 24, 2020 at 9:26 pm

      You should be a writer, a FICTION writer. Your dealing with adults in most cases. They want to work, to preserve their businesses, or to protect their jobs. They are also old enough to make a CHOICE on whether to return to work. If you are concerned the lock yourself up inside your trailer or apartment and don’t have contact with people.

    • Madeline Latorre

      May 26, 2020 at 1:17 pm

      I agree completely with you. In Fl just the elite who can live well.

      Ma

  • Frankie M.

    May 24, 2020 at 12:36 pm

    Shocking take but it generates the clicks. I’m all for opening up everything as soon as Ronnie, Donnie, and Lenny sign their kids up for summer camps…crickets. The party of do as I say not as I do.

    • Bobby adeal

      May 24, 2020 at 9:17 pm

      Nikki Fried is one of the most negative Cabinet Members in Florida’s history. She doesn’t try to hide the partisan whining about everything this Governor does. Fried would have the state locked down until a vaccine is developed. In the meantime the residents of Florida lose everything. She’s never missed a paycheck during this pandemic, and doesn’t care about us, only the Democratic Party.

  • Conservative-first

    May 24, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    Sorry Ag Comm – she is NOT a scientist. You fell for a hoax.
    Sen Torres – disgusting.

  • martin

    May 24, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    tyypical dem nonsense. Straight out of the pelosi/schummer playbook. Same on them. Fear mongering.

  • Anes11

    May 24, 2020 at 9:16 pm

    Vic Torres is a clueless fool. The virus is here, thanks to the CCP. Like it or not. The government can’t shut all private business down and lock citizens in their homes. The goal was to flatten the curve so hospitals would not be overwhelmed. Well the curve is flat.Time to get on with life. The vast majority of people under 60 do just fine. If sick, early testing and treatment with Vit C, zinc, zpak, and HCQ. If you are old or vulnerable, stay home. (It’s your problem) The more people who get sick and recover, the faster the virus will be gone.

  • Valerie Sprieser

    May 24, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    He is absolutely right!!!! Almost 3months and 2times applied for unemployment. Took 1month each time. I finally got my link for the CARE act friday! 3 months late!!!! Desantis is gonna take all the unclaimed unemployment funds and CARE $ and shovel it into to his general fund and vola! A balanced budget! Desantis is a criminal for stealing $from working Floridians forcing them to loose their cars, houses and into food lines! He needs to be strung up and forced out of office with pitch forks! He will be responsible for thousands more deaths for forcing penniless working people out face death and bankruptcy from not expanding Medicaid! . We are on the CDC watch list. We are 1 out of 3 states in corona watch!

    • Para

      May 26, 2020 at 9:29 am

      Imagine being so pathetically brainwashed by the Democrats that you actually believe the State Govenor is stealing your unemployment checks and routing them to his personal account.

      This State Senator should be ashamed of himself for fear-mongering DeSantis’so far succesful efforts to find the right balance between safety and freedom, because that insane fear-mongering certainly works with some people, apparently.

  • Joseph Evans

    May 25, 2020 at 8:35 am

    How much suffering is caused by the thought of death than by death itself. Stay in and be afraid and hope you don’t die or go out and try to enjoy what there is and hope you don’t die – that seems to be the choices. So the corona monster is in the hair salons, mom and pop stores, churches, restaurants and bars, but it’s not in the big box stores, super markets, your home etc., and a piece of cloth is going to save you. Good Luck.

  • Gwen

    May 25, 2020 at 5:01 pm

    There is no moderate wing of the Democrat party people. If you vote for Joe Biden, you are voting for Bernie Sanders, or Elizabeth Warren’s far left platform.. Joe will follow the radical left’s agenda or Joe won’t get the support and he is…. of Val Demings, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Valerie Jarrett,. Rashida Talib, Stacy Abrams, Ayanna Pressley, Nancy Pelosi, Sheila Jackson Lee, Tom Perez, Maxine Waters, Al Green, and llhan Omar. This is the core of the socialists leftist wing of the Democrat party in Washington and they are firmly in charge.

    Today’s Democrat party? The number one prerequisite for Vice President of the United States of America for the Democrat party is…………………………. dark skin color.

    Most or all have already endorsed Joe Biden, so he obviously has committed to their agenda. Democrats want to make this election about Trump and rely on the hatred of the President to win. Its about your wallet and the future of your children & grand children

    Democrat Platform & Goals:
    (Democrat Taxpayers pay close attention, you’ll pay too)

    *End all deportations of illegal aliens, if you get here, you stay. Bernie’s website calls it a “moratorium” on deportations.
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *Citizenship for 20 to 50 million illegal aliens, DACA & TPS recipients with a cost of billions. Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *De-fund & terminate border patrol & ICE.
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *Free Health Care for Illegal aliens, DACA, TPS recipients (taxpayer funded with one estimate at 52 trillion)
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.*

    *Ending of all private / employer based health care. “Medicare for all”, Feds run everything.
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *Illegal Aliens eligible for welfare & food stamps. (Elizabeth Warrens plan adopted)
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No

    * Border Security. (Democrats have fought against Border Security.
    Democrats No..
    Republicans Yes.

    *Free college for all, including illegal aliens (taxpayer funded estimates in the billions. Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *Decriminalization of illegal entry into our country.
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *Sanctuary Cities & States.
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *Open Borders.
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *Massive tax increases. All Democrat candidates have committed to tax increases of various amounts.
    Democrats Yes tax increases.
    Republicans No tax increases.

    *Reparations for race’s harmed by Caucasians. Joe committed this to “Reverend” Al Sharpton, support for Sheila Jackson Lee’s racist reparations bill in the House.
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *Drivers licenses for illegal aliens.(already happening in states with Democrat leadership) Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *Opposed to ANY voter ID Laws.(Nancy Pelosi wanted this amendment in the first corona virus bill) I wonder why?
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *AOC’s green new deal.(which would create massive unemployment, 100,000 jobs estimated in the transportation industry alone.)
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

    *Late term abortions up to 9 months. (Blood for Votes.)
    Democrats Yes.
    Republicans No.

Comments are closed.


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