DeSantis Blames Brown People As Delta Variant Rips Through Florida

Florida Gov. Ron Desantis (R-FL) recently publicly stated that the Covid-19 vaccines save lives, as the Delta variant of the virus contributes to a six-month high in new cases. Despite what is an increasingly obvious public health emergency, Desantis (who is likely considering a run in the 2024 Republican presidential primary) is refusing to be consistent and on-message against the spread of Covid-19. The governor is threatening to withhold funds to schools who uphold mask mandates, and most baffling of all, he's blaming the increase in cases on a lack of border control by the Biden administration. Yes. He's actually suggesting that the U.S.'s problem with the spread of Covid-19 is due to unchecked illegal immigration, rather than his own party.

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Emma Vigeland: There's a diverse series of topics on my mind in the news, but honestly it's just this Delta variant. That's what's dominating, given the fact that vaccinations have slightly picked up due to people getting a little bit more freaked out about the Delta variant, but obviously not enough. We are seeing continuous ramp-ups and average cases every day and that's going to result in an increase in deaths and hospitalizations no doubt we're already seeing an increase in hospitalizations um so you know you have Ben Shapiro, we talked about this the other day, saying the only thing that matters is deaths. Discounting that long Covid is a real thing, and people are going to face untold ramifications. A significant proportion of people are going to face ramifications — mental, physical — from having Covid.

Matt Lech: Or if you have some other medical issue going on. For instance, in Arkansas, there's only six ICU beds in the entire state available, and other states... it got down to that in North Dakota I think earlier. Dakotas aren't seeing this spike yet, but Texas has been. Austin county has been seeing a lot, Travis County has seen a lot of shortages of beds and stuff like that. And that has knock-on effects, particularly for Covid people. That's when you're going to see deaths rise, when you hit capacity, but also for other health issues.

Emma Vigeland: Right. Exactly. So yes, if you're feeling sick and you need to go to the hospital, and you're in Florida, or you're in Missouri, or you're in Arkansas, some of these places that are facing difficulties, it's going to be hard. And that is a direct result of our vaccine hesitancy en masse in this country. We're seeing countries and the European Union which was behind us initially, Canada which was behind us initially, surpassing us already in vaccination rates because there isn't this religious obsessiveness with not getting vaccinated.

Speaking of Covid, which i know everybody is sick of hearing it but unfortunately we've got to keep talking about it because Republicans like Ron Desantis need to prove their Covid-denial bona fides, to borrow an often-used Sam phrase. Since he did say a few weeks ago that vaccines are saving lives, and that cannot be abided if he wants to be president in 2024. So he is committing to actions that are performative for his base but have deadly consequences, in his particularly gruesome and pompous fashion, and is threatening to withhold funds from schools that uphold mask mandates. Which is exactly as bad as it sounds, and Greg Abbott is, I think, mulling over something similar in Texas. They're both competing for the worst guy in the country award. One in five new Covid cases are coming out of Florida. Regardless, here he is complaining that Joe Biden is talking about what's happening in Florida.

Ron Desantis: Joe Biden is taken to himself to try to single out Florida over Covid. This is a guy who ran for president saying he was going to, quote, shut down the virus. And what has he done? He's imported more virus from around the world by having a wide open southern border.