Ron DeSantis warns omicron lockdown threats hurt economy

Ron DeSantis. Image via AP.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday suggested a “lackluster” jobs report in November may be the shape of things to come for the U.S. economy should “lockdowns” go back into effect.

“Things like lockdowns should not be under discussion,” DeSantis said. “They have not worked. The restrictions have not worked.”

The Governor noted the 210,000 new jobs in November were fewer than half of what was forecast, suggesting threats of increased governmental response to COVID-19 may be a big part of the reason why.

“They’re trying to impose more restrictions with respect to the COVID, and that is not going to work,” DeSantis declared. “That is not going to allow us to perform well as a country if they’re threatening to restrict people.”

The Governor noted President Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci would not rule out lockdowns.

“Biden said ‘no lockdowns for now,'” DeSantis said, regarding guidance pertaining to the omicron COVID-19 variant sweeping the world and now showing up in the United States.

“What would happen in the future? You can’t restrict people. You can’t mandate, and as long as they’re stuck in that morass, you’re going to continue to have economic performance that is going to be subpar,” DeSantis said.

The Governor suggested also that fears of federal restrictions, and not the omicron variant itself, were what “rattled” stock market prices earlier this week.

“When the market was rattled, when the omicron, when the press was talking about that a lot, it wasn’t because they were worried about omicron,” DeSantis contended. “They’re worried about governments doing destructive things in response to omicron.”

“That is what shook and rattled the markets. That is what people are concerned about. The destruction that happens when these heavy-handed failed policies that we’ve seen over and over again and that people like Fauci will continue to parrot and never admit that they have been ineffective,” DeSantis said.

The Governor’s criticisms of Biden and Fauci and their response to the coronavirus are well-established by now, of course. Friday’s remarks on the latest variant are just the latest blast against what DeSantis calls “Fauci-ism.”