A.G. Gancarski
In a series of tweets from her personal Twitter account, the state’s only elected statewide Democrat issued a ringing vote of no confidence against the Republican Governor.
Nikki Fried, Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, blasted Gov. Ron DeSantis, after another day showed more evidence that COVID-19 runs rampant in the Sunshine State.
Fried has been unsparing in her criticisms of the Governor for months, but Wednesday’s fusillade took previous rhetoric to a new level.
The Commissioner said it was clear DeSantis “is not going to be the leader Florida needs at this time.”
“We are the epicenter of the virus now. Cases continue to rise, ICU beds are nearly at capacity, we are doing no contact tracing,” the first-term Democrat contended.
Fried wasn’t finished, however. She also honed in on an ill-fated reopening of the state that she saw as politicized and premature.
“Florida reopened too soon … on the Governor’s insistence that we had beaten COVID-19. We have not, and we are entering incredibly dangerous territory with no leadership.”
The hits kept on coming. The Commissioner called on local leaders to fill the gap left in the executive branch.
“It is up to our local leaders, businesses, and us to take responsibility that the Governor won’t. Wear a mask, demand people wear masks in your business, only go out when necessary, avoid crowds, get tested and self isolate when you feel sick,” Fried noted, before closing with another insistence that state government at its highest level failed the people of Florida.
“We must do everything we can to protect each other and keep the pressure off of our hospitals. It’s time to stop expecting anything from our state and federal government. They have completely failed us and are taking no action to protect us now that we are in serious trouble,” Fried asserted.
DeSantis, for his part, has attempted to manage the narrative with friendly national interviews, including a spot on Hannity that saw the host attempt to frame the discussion as “how Florida succeeded where New York failed.”
Meanwhile, the cases keep coming. Numbers tabulated Wednesday by the Florida Department of Health saw nearly another 10,000 cases added to the ongoing tally Tuesday, with more than 232,000 cumulative. The positive test rate may have stabilized, dipping back below 15% in tests processed Tuesday, but the pandemic is going to be grist for the political mill for the foreseeable future.
8 comments
Ray Blacklidge
July 8, 2020 at 11:58 am
Oh Nikki, just watch the Governor’s news conferences with updates on Covid-19. Then look at Florida’s statistics regarding numbers of people tested, hospitalizations and deaths. You will learn a lot and most likely stop your silly politically motivated spurious allegations against the Governor who indeed is doing a very good job.
Geovanny Carrillo
July 8, 2020 at 1:49 pm
You’re full of shit, boomer
Charlotte Greenbarg
July 9, 2020 at 12:33 pm
Troll. How much do they pay you? And the Fitch troll too
Sonja Fitch
July 8, 2020 at 1:17 pm
Duffus Desantis in his inept and clumsy way has squandered any opportunities we could have used to curve the covid! Duffus Desantis is criminally negligent! Florida is doing the “community spreading” disaster! Old young and in between get the virus. Duffus Desantis does not give a rats ass! Florida will be number 1 by sept 1, yes that is more than NY!
Harold Finch
July 9, 2020 at 9:03 am
Well here you are again!! You are crazy and a buffoon!!
Harold Finch
July 9, 2020 at 9:05 am
Ole NikNik ramping up her rhetoric and starting her campaign for Governor!! The Bitch be crazy!!!
Just sayin'
July 9, 2020 at 2:51 pm
I know it’s easier to sit on the sidelines and snipe, but Ms. Botox does realize she runs an entire large state agency and can do some things of her own to help the issue, right? I know she got this job figuring she’d just help her boyfriend’s weed business and then run for Governor in four years, but she could actually do something herself.
R. Marion
July 20, 2020 at 9:43 am
Excellent, factual article. Thank you. Fl infections increased 1061% since mid April while Maryland decreased by 32% due to a face covering proclamation issued April 18 and is up 96K jobs, 98% safely open. Both MD and the EU curves are flat. Breathability of public face masks is ensured in the EU due to standards and testing criteria set prior to manufacture. U.S. has done nothing to ensure safe and breathable mask available for the public, and PPE is still in short supply. My cousin in Boca has been waiting three weeks for test results. This is in no way a win. FL governor is deluded, just as is White House, to believe testing creates sickness infections. That is like saying if you throw out your bathroom scales, you won’t have gained weight. People can’t even get tested unless they are sick and pass “triage” screening criteria, so people trying to get tested are not the asymptomatic ones! The Fl governor, as a science-averse White House sycophant and others with a misplaced sense of loyalty or fealty are basically saying “Go ahead and do what you want, you have a right to infect others out in public, and we will manufacture money to send you. Then when you get sick, we will protect your right to show up at hospitals and endanger exhausted health care workers and their families, because heaven forbid you have to do your part during a state of emergency, U.S.A. generational epidemic and global pandemic.” If you can’t breath with a mask on, use an Arabian syle coveriing below your eyes, or a clear face shield, or find something that works for you–make sure you can breath AND are covered. Make an effort. People are not the enemy, the virus is! We all want the same thing, to get the virus out of our lives. Instead, countries and islands are banning filthy Americans from their countries. We are too dirty to be near. And those who want to fly and stay exposed, Delta has it right: just stay home, this is not your time to enjoy the luxuries of living in the U.S.A.–which for decades has been the greatest country on Earth and the leader of the free world. Don’t make America break again. See the deplorable results of not setting breath ability in consumer masks, and not wearing face coverings, at http://www.sciencenewsservice.com
Comments are closed.