Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ripped into President Joe Biden for the ongoing border crisis and surge in COVID-19 cases among illegal immigrants on Wednesday shortly after the White House took shots at the Republican leader and his state over rising virus cases and hospitalizations.
“Why don’t you do your job? Why don’t you get this border secure and until you do that, I don’t want to hear a blip about COVID from you,” DeSantis said. His comments were met with applause.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), whose state is experiencing record COVID hospitalizations, to President Biden:
“Why don’t you do your job? Why don't you get this border secure? And until you do that, I don’t wanna hear a blip about COVID from you, thank you.” pic.twitter.com/lqyTV1l9ou
— The Recount (@therecount) August 4, 2021
While the White House fails to address the record number of illegal aliens who continue to pour across the U.S. border without being tested for COVID-19, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pledged to keep calling out Republican states that she claims are hampering the administration’s efforts to mitigate the virus. Psaki claimed the decision to pressure these states is “not meant to be political.”
Psaki: We're going to keep calling out Texas and Florida for their COVID policies we don't like, but don't worry, "that's not meant to be political." pic.twitter.com/DEhrvAXjlZ
— John Cooper (@thejcoop) August 4, 2021
Psaki used the same rhetoric in the press briefing on Monday when she accused DeSantis as well as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of getting in the way of the White House and CDC’s COVID-19 recommendations on masking.
“Most Republican governors are doing exactly the right thing,” she began before warning Republicans such as DeSantis: “If you aren’t going to help, if you aren’t going to abide by public health guidance, then get out of the way and let people do the right thing to lead in their communities, whether they are teachers, university leaders, private sector leaders, or others who are trying to save lives.”
.@PressSec says "most Republican governors are doing exactly the right thing," but says of others like DeSantis, "if you aren't going to help, if you aren't going to abide by public health guidance, then get out of the way."
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) August 3, 2021
WH Press Sec. Jen Psaki: “50% of the 50,000 hospitalizations in the country came from just 4 states, with Florida being nearly a quarter of those.” pic.twitter.com/0NPe0akCNx
— The Recount (@therecount) August 3, 2021
Psaki’s insistence that DeSantis and other governors must “make a decision about whether they’re going to abide by public health guidelines to save people’s lives or whether they’re going to be guided by politics is misleading at best,” DeSantis’s spokeswoman Christina Pushaw told The Daily Caller,
“There are steps and precautions that can be taken,” Psaki said, “including encouraging people to get vaccinated, encouraging people to wear masks, including allowing schools to mandate masks, and allowing kids to wear masks, which is not the current state of play in Florida.”
“The fact is that Governor DeSantis has consistently encouraged Floridians to get vaccinated, and children in Florida are allowed to wear masks if they and their parents make that choice,” Pushaw responded.
