A.G. GancarskiAnticipating victory over the federal government in court, Gov. Ron DeSantis is taking credit for being “very instrumental” to getting cruises closer to sailing.
“Had we not brought this lawsuit, you would not see any movement on this whatsoever, so we were really instrumental in making that happen,” DeSantis told reporters Tuesday at the Florida Capitol after a Cabinet meeting, referring to a lawsuit filed in April to get the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s No Sail order lifted.
“We feel very good about the hearing on Thursday with the cruise ship litigation. We think we are going to get a favorable disposition in federal district court on that. We are very confident we will win that case in the 11th Circuit. That will get the CDC out of this and allow the ships to operate,” DeSantis added.
His optimism in front of Tallahassee media mirrored the positivity he shared on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” last weekend.
“We just had a hearing last week. Very positive response we thought from the court. We think we’ll get a favorable ruling there. We definitely think we would win on appeal as well,” DeSantis told host Maria Bartiromo.
“Once we’re past the CDC’s intransigence,” DeSantis added, “then they’re going to be free to sail in Florida. Of course, they’re going to have to follow Florida law. But they’re going to be able to do it without requiring vaccine passports.”
Since filing the lawsuit, DeSantis has railed about the injustice of the ongoing no sail order, an administrative edict that has “mothballed” the industry.
“Now here we are a year later and there’s no end in sight,” he groused in May. “Now they say you can only cruise if you have 98% of people show proof of vaccination. But that’s ridiculous. They’re cruising in other parts of the world where they don’t even have availability of vaccines yet, where they have much higher COVID than in the United States.”
Attorney General Ashley Moody has defended the lawsuit as “essential,” including in remarks this week.
“It’s not just about the irreparable harm this is causing Floridians or the job loss in Florida,” Moody said. “This is about what is permissible. What can the CDC under emergency powers do in terms of shutting down an entire industry?”
