Rick Scott hammers ‘inconsistent’ messaging from virus hotspot governors

Florida’s former Governor still would not mention Gov. Ron DeSantis by name in criticizing the state’s COVID-19 response, saying that “in the middle of a crisis you shouldn’t just be criticizing everybody.”

But on CNBC’s Squawk Box Monday morning Sen. Rick Scott criticized, at great length, “inconsistent” messaging from Governors of hotspot states. Florida is currently the leading example.

“What you’ve got to do is get out there and give good information,” Scott said. “This is not just for the Florida Governor, it’s for Governors around the country.”

Scott has previously discussed what he sees as a void of “good information.” On Monday, with interviewers pressing him to get specific about DeSantis, Scott expanded on previous talking points.

“The difference between this and what I did with hurricanes when I was the Governor was I just inundated people with information,” the Senator said. “Across the country, we still don’t have good information.”

“If you look at it, there were a lot of people that were inconsistent with that message early on,” Scott said regarding mask wearing and social distancing.

“We’ve got to get more information out there about where the problem spots are,” he added. “How you stop it.”

“If you do that, people are smart, they’ll figure it out. They figured it out with hurricanes. So they’ll figure it out with this.”

“At every level, federal, state, and local, government needs to tell us where the hotspots are,” Scott said, before comparing the pandemic to the Zika “issue” he addressed as Governor.

“I was very specific as Governor,” he said. “This is where the local transmission is. Tell us where the problem spots are. We’re pretty smart. We don’t go there.”

“But without information, how do we make good decisions,” Scott asked.

Scott’s concern extended to the controversial topic of school reopening, in which he said that parents need “choice” and teachers need more clarity given assorted uncertainties related to returning to the classroom.

“I was talking to a teacher the other day. That person doesn’t know, are they going to be given masks, are they going to be given face shields, are you going to be giving them gloves, how many kids are being in their class … come on!”

Scott’s voice went up an octave in umbrage.

“I was talking to another teacher who said that she’s going to teach online but she has to go to the school to do it,” Scott said. “How does that make any sense?”

“What you see is you see inconsistency,” Scott said, pleading again for “good information.”

The Senator, as we reported previously, has expressed concerns about school reopening, and has already said his grandchildren will not be in brick and mortar schools next month.