Ron DeSantis contends ‘political science’ drives CDC virus moves

DeSantis
DeSantis blasted Fauci, Biden also.

Gov. Ron DeSantis continued his offensive against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday, saying it was driven by “political science” and not the hard science relative to COVID-19.

“So much of this is not science, it’s political science,” DeSantis said, of “what the CDC has been operating under for many many months.”

DeSantis workshopped the political science line Tuesday evening on the Mark Levin Show, as part of a larger repertoire of blasts of the once-uncontroversial federal agency.

Levin led off the segment asking DeSantis if the CDC should issue a health advisory to secure the border, and the Governor was on board.

“If you want to just come straight across the border … they don’t give a damn about COVID at that point,” DeSantis said.

He also brought back the contention that masks in schools are intended to “muzzle” young learners, saying they would be “muzzled with the mask even though COVID is no risk to the kid.”

DeSantis went on to paint a grim picture of the border, a landscape full of “drugs” and “criminal aliens,” suggesting that “millions and millions of people” could make their way across in the next 3½ years.

Those people could be from “over 100 different countries,” he suggested, including “people from the Middle East” and Asians and Haitians.

“Get to the southern border, that’s your ticket into the United States illegally,” was how DeSantis summed it up. He also posed questions.

“Who knows what the hell kinds of pathogens they’re bringing in in addition to COVID? And yet the CDC does not care at all about this. I think the reason is ideology,” DeSantis said.

The messaging continued along these lines, with DeSantis hitting familiar targets. He noted Dr. Anthony Fauci “didn’t have much to say about the BLM or antifa riots last summer.”

He also blasted “terrible messaging” from President Joe Biden, saying that “what Biden is doing is sending a message you’re somehow less of an American if you make choices.”

DeSantis’ interview in the friendliest of forums continued an unusual media strategy this week, following a curious decision to record an anti-mask roundtable and not advise the media that it was happening in real time. Instead, the administration distributed video, perhaps in an abundance of caution to avoid questions during business hours, as DeSantis workshopped concepts.

DeSantis, who has already reduced case reporting, suggested there that even the reduced data set was pointless in that Monday colloquy.

“What’s the point of tracking these cases the way we’re tracking the cases if in fact we believe the vaccines protect you from severe outcome but may not necessarily protect you from testing positive?”

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


28 comments

  • Laura Rutledge

    July 27, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    My bad he is psychiatrist

    • Elizabeth Norman Bentley

      July 29, 2021 at 5:49 am

      It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, or a psychologist to see that politics is running the medical field.

  • Tom Palmer

    July 27, 2021 at 9:59 pm

    Maybe the CDC should secure the Florida border. This rant was really bizarre, even for Gov. DeSantis.

  • Tom

    July 27, 2021 at 11:01 pm

    Palmer, considering he’s actually studied the science as the only whiz kid Governor to do so and he’s accurate. Unlike the rest of the Dem media and elected.

  • Frankie M.

    July 27, 2021 at 11:23 pm

    Ronnie spells scyence with a “y” and the sad thing is I don’t think he knows that’s wrong.

    Maybe next time he can bring his whole roundtable panel of quacks on the show so he can ask them leading questions regarding covid until the moderator tells him to “stop leading the witness counselor.”

    • Tom

      July 28, 2021 at 7:26 am

      You are the quack, idiot Frankie.
      Get your Soros talking points.
      You have no clue, your answer is lockdowns, Florida society decimated, and schools closed. No one is falling for you and palmers whining.

    • Michael Hoffmann

      July 29, 2021 at 9:58 pm

      Quackery is an established tradition in the USA. DeSantis is going one step beyond by closing to the public and media these latter-day snake handling sessions.

  • Ron Ogden

    July 28, 2021 at 7:53 am

    Science has been behind the curve since the beginning. Science is nothing but statistics, and statistics lie and liars cite statistics. All we have to do is look at what happened in New York–king Cuomo Democrat land. The idea that the world was finally emerging from CoVid and then, out of the blue came the “delta” variant is, IMHO, too damn pat. I do not believe the vaccines are safe; deciding whether to get a shot or not is balancing risks and should be up to each person individually, not to the goof in chief in the WH.

    • Tjb

      July 28, 2021 at 2:09 pm

      Funny how DeSantis makes a health issue a political issue. Just a reminder that Trump made the CDC a joke during his term. Their leaders became his puppets. Also, based on your comment, Trumps Operation Warp Speed was not successful. Finally, remember when DeSantis’s idol, Trump, stated on Feb 2020 that no American citizens would die from COVID 19 was the big lie. A big political lie.

  • Harold Finch

    July 28, 2021 at 8:13 am

    I am just amazed at what a complete idiot DeSantis is!!

    • Louise DeGroot

      July 28, 2021 at 4:53 pm

      i am amazed at what a complete idiot YOU ARE

    • Elizabeth Norman Bentley

      July 29, 2021 at 5:54 am

      I rather like DeSantis. He has kept Florida free, kept our schools open, allowed people to make a living. A Democrat governor would have gone along with the Pelosi lockdowns and we would all be SOL. The damage the children are suffering in the lockdown states can never be repaired.

  • T.J. Manley

    July 28, 2021 at 11:31 am

    DeSantis is worried about Covid when it might be coming across the Texas/Mexico border–that’s gotta be stopped!–but not the least worried about it already being here in Florida. He’s willing to sacrifice the lives of more Floridians so that he can feed anti-science nonsense to voters who like what they hear.

    • Elizabeth Norman Bentley

      July 29, 2021 at 6:00 am

      The best thing for Floridians to do is take the precautions against the virus. D3, zinc, vitamin C, NAC, selenium, and quercetin. It would be nice if the government allowed the pharmaceuticals of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, which are the most reasonably priced and work the best against the virus. Why are they not allowing those proven, inexpensive drugs not to be used. If you have your eyes open, you know the answer to that question.

      • Michael Hoffmann

        July 29, 2021 at 10:08 pm

        Quackery. Caveat emptor.

  • PeterH

    July 28, 2021 at 11:41 am

    DeSantis even sounds like Donald Trump …. EVERY TIME he opens his mouth “STUPID” comes out. Republicans politicized masks and the vaccine and that is the reason, per capita, Florida has a higher infection rate and death count than California. DeSantis incompetence is a sin ….. and Floridians who listen to and fawn over this Trumpster will pay the price.

    Join real conservatives at the Lincoln Project. It’s time to destroy what remains of Trump’s GQP so it can be rebuilt.

    • Elizabeth Norman Bentley

      July 29, 2021 at 6:04 am

      The real conservatives you are talking about are nothing but liars, cheaters and thieves. They fight against policies that are good for America and sell us out. Everyone of them have their hands out taking our money and give our jobs to other countries.

  • father lowell laurence

    July 28, 2021 at 12:45 pm

    PLAYWRIGHT/PLAYWRIGHTS SANCTUARY
    DIRECTOR DR LARRY MYERS
    ADDRESSES THESE ISSUES and OTHER TROUBLESOME CRISES OF OUR ZEITGEIST
    IN HIS “AMBIDEXTERITY”

  • Peterh

    July 29, 2021 at 8:45 am

    Politicians DO NOT GIVE JOBS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES. Corporations give jobs to foreign countries. It’s called capitalism! Corporations seek out the least means of production to increase profits. The citizens of Asian countries earn less money so American businesses exploit the situation. Let’s remember that Republican Richard Nixon opened China to USA corporate investment.

    • Elizabeth Bentley

      July 29, 2021 at 8:12 pm

      No. You are right. “Politicians don’t give jobs to foreign countries,” but they set the corporate taxes which can make it undesirable for them to stay in America. This is not a partisan subject, hence your remark about Nixon. It is an “American” thing. When corporate taxes are lower, Americans have jobs and better benefits. When corporate taxes are higher, benefits are decreased and jobs are lost when these same companies leave America to satisfy their investors.

      • Michael Hoffmann

        July 29, 2021 at 10:06 pm

        This is theory — and it certainly is partisan.

        History shows most US citizens did better with corporations paying a lot more than they do today, individuals paying much less.

        Unless, of course, you like the highest economic stratification since 1928.

  • Tom

    July 29, 2021 at 9:39 pm

    Ms Bentley is a scholar!
    Yes, absolutely correct.
    Dems never understand.
    We emptied our factories and blue collar jobs to foreign lands, China primarily.

    • Michael Hoffmann

      July 29, 2021 at 10:14 pm

      This is the systemic problem with capitalism, which is driven to maximize profits, period.

      Trump’s nationalistic sleight of hand shouldn’t disguise his goal to become richer every day, by any means necessary. Just take a look at the fund raising he continues to do and how that money is being spent.

      • Tom

        July 29, 2021 at 10:33 pm

        “Hoffmann” previous error pal. You are incorrect. Trumps economic policy brought a economic renaissance. Blue collar, lower middle wage earners did very well with his economic efforts. Bottom up wage growth and more women, minorities, young people working more then ever.
        Now you have despair except in Florida. Florida’s future is bright with DeSantis. Sorry “Hoffmann” just saying.

      • Tom

        July 29, 2021 at 10:46 pm

        Have you heard of Hunter Biden pal, come on “Hoffman”

  • PeterH

    July 29, 2021 at 10:27 pm

    Here’s the problem. The government has no mechanism to selectively pick which corporations receive a lower tax rate. If we had this option, the government could give breaks only to corporations who do 80% of their business in the USA. Donald Trump and his economist miserably failed at this and the corporate breaks added $4 trillion to the national debt. Corporate taxes are needed to pay America’s bills ….. cut off the tax revenue and you get increased debt in return. We should have learned this lesson when Reagan tripled the national debt by lowering corporate taxes.

    We knew this would happen under Trump … because Steve Mnuchin stood in front of an auditorium full of corporate CEO’s in 2017 and asked them: “how many will enlarge the businesses because of the Trump corporate tax breaks?” ….. no more than a half dozen hands went up out of five dozen corporates present. In retrospect the corporations exclusively used the money for stock buybacks and executive bonuses.

    The end result ….. American manufacturing slipped into recession in January of 2020…… two months before the onset of the pandemic……. additionally ….Trump’s trade tariffs also contributed to the manufacturing recession. So your proposition that lower corporate taxes stimulates jobs here in the USA is false. I’m not sure how Congress can fix that.

    Here are some additional facts……Trump inherited 4.6% unemployment from Obama and in an stimulated booming economy unemployment under Trump dipped to 3.5% for exactly 9 months before the start of higher unemployment. We realize now that Trump and his tariffs brought to a close the longest period of economic expansion in American history. Economist stated at the time …..that trade tariffs NEVER work ….and eventually result in inflation and trade wars ….. we’re witnessing that now ….. exasperated by the pandemic (especially in Asia), shortages of data and computer chips ( plant fire in Japan and drought in Taiwan) and a general supply chain problem due to both of the above factors. We have the promised inflation.

    Fifty years ago, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund set standards for the future of the capitalist model. In the agreed plan …. the USA and other sectors of the industrialized world become consumer societies with a workforce based in the “service economy” ….. meaning enlightened technology experts and a huge hospitality industry. The USA left the planning and training for this exercise to multinational corporations. Manufacturing in the plan was to move to less developed countries. China’s planned economy grabbed onto the concept a decade before Nixon opened China to USA investors. The big players in China fifty years ago were Japan and Singapore.

    Gone forever are the days that American workers making $10 dollars per hour can compete with more qualified and dedicated manufacturing labor in Asia. American students didn’t dedicate themselves to the medical profession, thus our hospital staff are from India and the Middle East. American students gave the technology skills in IT planning and Entertainment technology to advanced students in India …. thus when you watch a high tech movie …… a long list of technocrats have foreign names. Again, we’re so far behind ….. I can’t think of any way to catch up.

    • Tom

      July 30, 2021 at 8:02 am

      PeterH your outline is distorted and convoluted. Americans saw a economic renaissance under “45” His tax cuts, regulatory relief and good money policy was right prescription. All Americans worked, earned and Saw the “rising tide lifts all boats” as bottom wage and middle class earners never did better. These are The facts, 3.5 unemployment from 17 thru 20. A 100 yr pandemic turned all that upside down. The renaissance turned blue collar, lower middle class pro “45” and was a game changer. Without the pandemic this was a re alignment moment which would have devastated Dems. They lost traditional Dem counties in Texas & Ohio that flipped for 45 And Repub for first time in 60 yrs. 45’s appeal was always economic blue collar, middle class jobs. Jobs that were abandoned when USA allowed China into the WTO in late 90’s. We lost our factories and middle class working man jobs. The realignment still took effect but was not enough ultimately. The blue print is in play. The desire for economic fairness is there but all this federal stimulus is Dems attempt to erase the American working class free enterprise spirit. It’s inflationary side is dangerous and will erase economic strength. Gov DeSantis understands this and stands as the cause to protect their economic future.

  • Michael Hoffmann

    July 30, 2021 at 8:23 pm

    Just saying what, Tom? You predict a bright future, but I believe DeSantis is going to bring us what all the other oligarchs on the globe have brought:unnecessary pain, death, and suffering of pandemic proportions.

    Crony capitalism is DJT’s modus operandi. Deny this, or try to distract, this is the bottom line. If we get DJT’s IRS returns, will you avert your gaze and go off on Hunter Biden?

    Also, remember Jan. 6, 2021?

Comments are closed.


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