A.G. Gancarski
Gov. Ron DeSantis credited himself after the Joe Biden administration came out against federal vaccine passports, noting that his opposition may have led the way to Biden’s change in tone on the topic.
“The federal government, in fairness to them, they have said they’re not going to do a vaccine passport. There was talk of that. That’s what prompted me to come out to say it’s not happening in Florida,” DeSantis said Thursday in Miami.
DeSantis issued an executive order banning the documents last week, with legislation to follow.
“Then they backed off and said ‘no, maybe the private sector will go in that direction,’ but we are not a federal government and I think that’s the right decision. I think they did that because they got a lot of backlash for it,” DeSantis continued.
“We’re not doing vaccine passports in Florida,” DeSantis said, describing a “big groundswell against these” that he inspired.
“I was the first one to come out. Look, Florida has to lead on all this stuff. I think we’ve figured this out,” he added.
DeSantis’ assertion that he drove federal policy on the proposed documentation of vaccine certifications was just part of a series of extended remarks in which he said that required passports would violate people’s right to live as they see fit.
“You have a right to live your life in our society. You can go to a restaurant. You can get on a cruise ship. You can go to a movie theater without the company demanding that you show them your health information,” DeSantis added, urging people who are “concerned about that to go get vaccinated.”
He said advocates of continued virus restrictions sought to take “freedom” from people.
“You give an inch, there’s people who want to take a mile. They want to take your freedom. They want to be able to exercise power,” DeSantis said, noting that more than a year after “15 Days to Stop the Spread,” there are still “lockdowns” throughout the country.
It is up to Florida to take a stand, DeSantis added as he closed.
“We’re an 800-pound gorilla when it comes to tourism, and I think if we put our foot down, Florida can help lead the way yet again,” he said.
3 comments
Tom
April 8, 2021 at 1:47 pm
Yeah, President Biden just sits around waiting for pandemic guidance from the Governor of Florida, where we’ve only had 33,000 killed by the virus. DeSantis probably takes credit for his digestive system every time he poops–he probably says “See, I made that poop. No one else made that poop. I’m a leader on poop.”
And by God, he is.
Frankie M.
April 8, 2021 at 6:34 pm
Ronnie’s a legend in his own mind. I mean the man doesn’t believe in mask mandates or social distancing who in their right mind thinks he’d be a champion for vaccine passports. The only passport he’s a fan of are those tourists flying into Orlando & Sofla to get their vaccines before everyone else. Ronnie spells “scyence” with a “y” and the sad thing is he doesn’t know that’s wrong. At the end of the day Ronnie will take credit for the Earth continuing to spin on its axis. Oh wait I forgot Ronnie doesn’t believe in junk science.
That being said vaccine passports aren’t a bad idea. People would be free to get the shots or not but private business owners could dictate whether their customers need one to enter their business. The problem lies in uniformity. Not everyone has a smart phone so apps would be out. Paper is too easy to fake and people with tinfoil hats don’t want the guvmint to put them in a database that doesn’t say NRA member on the top. Floriduh botched the vaccine rollout…no rules just right…how in the hell could we get our shit together for a statewide and/or national vaccine passport. It’s not possible thanks to our ingrained incompetence. It’s ironic that our guvmint overlords in the state of Floriduh are so anti-documentation when it comes to the vax but they can’t get enough of it at the voting precincts.
James Robert Miles
April 9, 2021 at 8:53 am
Egotistical much, Ronnie? You and Trump ought to compare ego’s to see which one has the bigger ego! It might just be a tie!! That has helped more people to die because of covid. We can all be so proud!!
Comments are closed.