On Friday, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis claimed that many Democrats will attempt to reimpose COVID-19 restrictions after the November midterm elections, arguing that the current loosening of restrictions is because Democrats know COVID-19 restrictions are “not what people want.”
“The minute those elections are over, they will impose mandates if they feel the need to do that. They will impose restrictions,” DeSantis said.
“And so that will happen. If those types of people are allowed to be put in power, my view on that is, they’ve put Fauci in the witness protection program because he will say, you know, no, you should still wear a mask, and he’s never going to say be normal, go back to normal. So they know that, and they know that that’s not what people want,” DeSantis added.
DeSantis then stated that the only way to ensure restrictions are not reimposed is a “red wave” during the midterms.
“There’s nothing wrong if on an individual basis you make a certain calculation. That’s fine. We encourage you to do that. But it’s wrong to mandate people and restrict people, and that will happen. I guarantee you, winter of 2022, any of those folks that are there, you are going to see that happen,” he continued.
“The only way to make sure it doesn’t happen is to have nice, big, red wave. So, we’ll see,” he added.
DeSantis’ comments come as many Democrats have loosened COVID-19 restrictions in response to increasing opposition from Americans.
“Coronavirus policies are beginning to boomerang on Democrats as polls underscore public fatigue with both the pandemic and the rules and mandates intended to keep it from spreading,” The Hill reported in February. “Democrats have been generally unified in backing vaccinations and the use of masks and mask mandates by local communities to stop the spread, but the party’s voters are becoming more divided on the continued aggressive use of such restrictions, and frustration is mounting.”
“A number of Democratic governors have taken note of the frustrations, moving to lift their mask mandates even as the Biden administration has signaled it would stick to stricter guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” the outlet added.
