Former President Donald Trump cited an MSNBC article Thursday criticizing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for not pushing mask and vaccine policies harder during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump reposted the article, which claims DeSantis is running on his “absolutely abysmal” pandemic record, on his Truth Social account. The article emphasizes DeSantis’ initial reaction to the public health emergency, reminding readers the Florida governor “issued a mandatory 14-day quarantine for any New Yorkers entering the state of Florida for nearly five months.” (RELATED: Video Shows Trump, Fauci Mascots Dancing Outside Debate Venue)
All of you people who tell me “Trump doesn’t hype the vaccine anymore”, Trump just destroyed your argument by sharing this story written by a dude who is an avowed leftist and complains DeSantis didn’t force vaccinate people. So, yeah, you can have Lockdown Don. pic.twitter.com/S1fjjTQxLo
— Just Mindy 🐊 (@just_mindy) August 24, 2023
The MSNBC article also evoked Florida’s fourth place ranking in the COVID-19 death count. There was over 78,707 total deaths in the state, placing Florida behind California, Texas and New York, per the article. On vaccines, the article claimed the death count of “DeSantis’ favorite punching bags of New York and California” decreased after vaccines were widely available in May 2021. Florida’s death count remained elevated after May 2021, according to the MSNBC article shared by Trump.
Trump and DeSantis have been at odds regarding their COVID-19 responses. Trump claimed in May former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, notorious for strict lockdowns and government mandates, handled the pandemic better than DeSantis. In June, DeSantis’ campaign released a video ad attacking the former president for not firing former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Anthony Fauci during his administration.