Fed up with a governor quick to blame others for his ongoing failure to counter Florida’s surging pandemic numbers, Orlando State Senator Victor Torres condemned Governor Ron DeSantis’ recent attacks on immigrants as the source of the state’s coronavirus infections.
“Governor DeSantis is trying to change the subject and blame others for his failed leadership by raising the immigration issue which has nothing to do with the COVID-19 crisis,” said Senator Torres, pointing to the governor’s press conference in which he lamely attempted to shift the blame to President Joe Biden’s border policy. “If the Governor is looking for someone to blame he can simply look in the mirror to see who is at fault and from this day forward, every death that occurs in Florida as a result of COVID-19 falls squarely on his shoulders.”
The Senator continued saying the governor continues to shirk responsibility for the pandemic casualties mounting in the state, as Florida now leads the nation in daily numbers of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations at a level that is higher than the peak we saw during the height of the crisis last year. Recently, Governor DeSantis has issued several Executive Orders that restrict the ability of local governments to institute local face covering orders, prohibit private businesses from setting policies to protect their customers and employees, and punishing School Districts by threatening to withhold education funding for establishing regulations designed to protect the health of children and school staff. Senator Torres disagrees with those actions.
“Last year, many of us pleaded with the Governor to institute a Statewide face covering requirement to help reduce the spread of the Corona virus but DeSantis refused to take any action claiming that the local governments knew what was best for their communities and should make those decision,” stated Senator Torres. “Now the Governor is using his authority to override local public health requirements, like those issued by Orange County Mayor Demings last week and is barring local School Districts from setting standards for school openings in a few weeks. It has become clear that Governor DeSantis cares more about political grandstanding than protecting public health and he has shown his hypocrisy by now taking away the rights of local governments to make those decision for their residents.”
