A.G. Gancarski
Florida’s Governor appears to be irked by disproportionate coverage of measles outbreaks, blasting what he calls “phony narratives” from the press.
From his personal social media account on X, Ron DeSantis offered a snarky quote tweet of a post from one of his followers. The post suggested that coverage of an in-state school flare-up of the disease was more pronounced than that of an Illinois shelter for undocumented immigrants.
The poster asserted that “there are 30+ cases of measles tied to an illegal immigrant shelter in Chicago but I haven’t seen the same news coverage about this as the < 10 cases in Florida last month.”
“Gee, I wonder why?” the Governor responded.
He followed this up with commentary during a press conference in Orlando on Wednesday.
“Now, you see 30 cases in Chicago with illegal aliens. I don’t hear the same carping from the media. In fact, they’re not talking about it really very much at all. So it just goes to show you the phony narratives that get put out all to drive an agenda,” DeSantis said.
“The fact of the matter is they kind of whip it up and then when things go a different direction than what they were predicting, they just forget that it ever happened and then they just move on.”
“You see even more cases in these other areas and you don’t hear the same type of carping and I wonder why that is OK,” he added.
It’s uncertain why the Governor and the poster believe the media hasn’t covered this, given that the Chicago Tribune and other outlets have reported heavily on the resurgence of a disease that had been considered to be eradicated at the turn of the century, a time when vaccines weren’t the political flashpoint they are today.
But the commentary suggests that the Governor is still disgruntled over media scrutiny over an outbreak earlier this year in Florida schools, which he has messaged about through official channels recently.
Earlier this month, the Governor’s Office alleged “disproportionate attention for political reasons” on Florida’s recent measles outbreak compared to 16 other states dealing with the disease this year.
The release responded to controversy over how Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo handled a February measles outbreak at Manatee Bay Elementary.
Ladapo offered guidance suggesting that community immunity meant that those with measles could make up their own minds about attending school, given “people with a history of prior infection or vaccination of the full series of the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) immunization are 98% protected and are unlikely to contract measles.”
“Because of the high likelihood of infection, it is normally recommended that children stay home until the end of the infectious period, which is currently March 7, 2024,” Ladapo wrote last month.
“As the epidemiological investigation continues, this date could change. However, due to the high immunity rate in the community, as well as the burden on families and educational cost of healthy children missing school, DOH is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance.”
16 comments
ScienceBLVR
March 27, 2024 at 11:44 am
The Earth is not flat, Ron, listen to the scientists, and stop fomenting hatred with your anti-human rants..
PeterH
March 27, 2024 at 11:56 am
Meanwhile in other news, the DeSantis administration has agreed to the Disney terms in the politically motivated “don’t say gay” penalty imposed on Disney! That worked out well for DeSantis …..didn’t it!
Additionally, Florida’s snake oil grifter-in-chief, Donald Trump is now hawking $59.99 bibles! Proceeds go directly into Trump’s pocket. Next up after the golden sneakers…. will probably be bed sheets with Trump’s face on the pillow cases!
Republicans are not only an international embarrassment…. they are America’s worst enemy!
Vote all Republicans out of office!
Bert Difig
March 27, 2024 at 7:53 pm
Amazing news.
Can you please quote the sections of the law that were changed, rewritten, or struck down by that ruling?
…
And when you find out that nothing changed, as the entire thing was a partisan deliberate misinterpretation of the law…
What then?
JD
March 27, 2024 at 8:47 pm
I think he is conflating the Federal lawsuit with the one about the tourism district. The Tourism District / State and Disney reached a settlement – not a ruling.
There is a Federal one about first amendment right political retaliation. It was dismissed but is in appeal.
The Don’t Say Gay bill lawsuit separate from that did end up with the state settling the law that limited classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity. That deal made it clear that students and teachers could discuss those topics if they weren’t part of formal classroom instruction.
The fact the State has so many lawsuits brought against it by so many different entities should tell you they aren’t governing for the people and it amazing news.
JD
March 27, 2024 at 12:07 pm
“disproportionate attention for political reasons” – kettle black when you go and get an Anti-Vax Anti-Covid sycophant as your “Lapado”-dog and pay him over $500K with public monies.
Measles COVID Syphilis
March 27, 2024 at 3:43 pm
The measles outbreak is thanks to DeathSantis and his Fake doctor pushing anti science to kill children through bringing back diseases young doctors have never even seen. Keep spreading death Florida and call it freedom
rick whitaker
March 27, 2024 at 5:07 pm
FLORIDA IS A HELL HOLE OF DESANTIS’ MAKING, ENJOY
Bert Difig
March 27, 2024 at 7:51 pm
And random unintelligible screamed gibberish to you as well good sir.
rick whitaker
March 27, 2024 at 8:08 pm
bert, is that what you would say about a caution bridge out sign trying to warn you? my statement about desantis’ florida being REAL bad is a cautionary warning, so you don’t have to heed my words. i moved out of florida, so i can see the forest for the trees. a simple, thank you for the warning would have been ok
Bill
March 28, 2024 at 12:25 pm
You don’t live here so why do you care? Just sayin’
rick whitaker
March 28, 2024 at 12:53 pm
bill, good question, here in the south where i live, is the center of most of the negative politics in the country at present. i care about my country and what is going on in florida is very important to the health of my country. how could i be of good conscience, and not care? the systematic disassembly of all the florida institutions, and the replacement effort to turn florida into a white christian nationalist state ( hell hole ), is of great interest to me. the same type things are going on in tennessee, my state. i did live in florida at one time, but found it to be a shitty place to live long term. i see the danger of fascism and white christian nationalism, what better place to monitor for that type of activity than florida.
LawLib
March 27, 2024 at 5:29 pm
DeSantis is, among other things, a hyper, thin-skinned person who doesn’t know how to get out of his own way. He constantly opens himself up for unflattering media attention with the inane policies his administration imposes on the taxpayers of this once great State.
rick whitaker
March 28, 2024 at 1:05 pm
lawlib, floridians want desantis and his bs, they voted him in to run their state. what does that say about the floridians that voted for him. the media attention you mentioned, was earned by desantis. the way you stated it, it was ambiguous as to the role of the media. guys like desantis, find it hard to own their faults. he has loads of faults. it’s not his personal quirks or thin skin part that i don’t care for, it’s his political beliefs that i HATE.
MH/Duuuval
March 27, 2024 at 11:27 pm
Let us know when exactly it was Florida was a great state — been here awhile myself and don’t recall such a thing.
rick whitaker
March 28, 2024 at 1:14 pm
mh/ duuval, in my opinion, florida has always, since march 3rd, 1845, been a shitty state for a myriad of reasons. i could tire myself out by listing so many reasons florida is not and has never been great. as a floridian you may have even more reasons for thinking florida is far from great. so glad i moved to tennessee. tennessee is also, far from great. trump’s definition of great is a nightmare for me.
MH/Duuuval
March 28, 2024 at 1:57 pm
Things look different from the tippy top of Trump Tower.
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