The Republican governor of Florida hit out at “’lockdown politicians”, such as New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for taking holidays in the restriction-free state while enforcing Covid mandates on their own.
Governor Ron DeSantis, who has fought against mask rules in Florida despite a rising number of cases, criticised “congresspeople, mayors, governors, you name it” for fleeing to the “Sunshine State” while sounding the alarm for the spread of the omicron variant.
“If I had a dollar for every lockdown politician that decided to escape to Florida over the last two years, I’d be a pretty doggone wealthy man,” Mr DeSantis said during a press conference.
He suggested they were hypocrites, saying: “I think a lot of Floridians will say ‘wait a minute, you’re bashing us because we’re not doing your draconian policies and yet we’re the first place you want to flee to…to be able to enjoy life’.”
‘Sexual frustrations’
His comments came as Ms Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Representative for the Democrats, was spotted partying maskless in Miami over the weekend. She was reportedly hosting an outdoor “drag brunch”.
“Welcome to Florida, AOC!” tweeted the account of Mr DeSantis, a backer of former president Donald Trump, who is rumoured to be thinking about running in the 2024 presidential election. “We hope you’re enjoying a taste of freedom here in the Sunshine State thanks to @RonDeSantisFL’s leadership.”
Florida broke its single-day Covid-19 record with 75,900 cases on New Year’s Eve.
However, Mr DeSantis blamed the Biden administration for coronavirus woes in his state while accusing other state leaders of allowing “hysteria” to reign as they encourage mitigation measures against the virus that he claimed had little basis in science.
Steve Cortes, a former Trump adviser, also criticised Ms Ocasio-Cortez for “frolicking free” in Florida, and her partner for “showing his gross pale male feet” in a photograph they shared of their trip.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez responded: “If Republicans are mad they can’t date me they can just say that instead of projecting their sexual frustrations onto my boyfriend’s feet.”
