The president of America’s second-largest teacher’s union claimed Wednesday that “millions” of Floridians are going to die because of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, was responding to DeSantis selling “Don’t Fauci My Florida” merchandise.
“Disgusting. Millions of Floridians are going to die for Ron DeSantis’ ignorance and he’s choosing to profit from it,” Weingarten said in a tweet. “He doesn’t care about Floridians; he cares about furthering his own cruel agenda.”
Disgusting. Millions of Floridians are going to die for Ron DeSantis’ ignorance and he’s choosing to profit from it. He doesn’t care about Floridians; he cares about furthering his own cruel agenda. https://t.co/0HnxB3WlZ4
— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) July 14, 2021
The state of Florida currently has 38,282 deaths from COVID-19 and a death rate from the virus below the national average. The entire U.S. sits below one million deaths at 623,777.
The governor’s press secretary Christina Pushaw responded with a tweet of her own ripping into Weingarten for advocating to keep schools closed despite science suggesting they didn’t contribute to the spread of the virus.
“Randi Weingarten ruined the education of millions of kids by keeping them out of school for more than a year based on a conspiracy theory,” Pushaw said.
Florida’s COVID death rate is lower than the national average, and unlike the Governor of New York, we don’t fudge the numbers. Meanwhile, Randi Weingarten ruined the education of millions of kids by keeping them out of school for more than a year based on a conspiracy theory https://t.co/yfdLCk5Kq4
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) July 14, 2021
Weingarten also received backlash after it was revealed that her union, along with the National Education Association, coordinated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on drafting school reopening guidance. (RELATED: Teachers’ Union President Compares Push To Reopen Schools To Capitol Riots, White Supremacy)
DeSantis has received praise from conservatives for his resistance to prolonged COVID-19 lockdowns and keeping schools open for the entire year.