{"id":1027936,"date":"2023-11-01T14:52:31","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T14:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1027936"},"modified":"2023-11-01T14:52:31","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T14:52:31","slug":"what-you-need-to-know-about-anti-vaxxer-ron-desantis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/what-you-need-to-know-about-anti-vaxxer-ron-desantis\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Need to Know About Anti-Vaxxer Ron DeSantis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In response to Ron DeSantis\u2019s so-called \u201cmedical freedom\u201d town hall in New Hampshire today, <\/em>DNC spokesperson Sarafina Chitika released the following statement:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRon DeSantis\u2019s attempt to resurrect his old and tired anti-vaccine tantrum today is a reminder to voters that he played political games with Florida\u2019s COVID response at every turn in a cheap effort to score political points with the extreme MAGA movement. No matter how hard he tries to revive his floundering campaign, DeSantis can\u2019t rewrite his record of putting Floridians\u2019 lives at risk by pushing bizarre conspiracy theories, refusing to order vaccines for young children, and signaling support for prosecuting vaccine providers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeSantis politicized Florida\u2019s COVID response by spewing dangerous rhetoric and signaling his desire to prosecute vaccine providers \u2014 even though he advocated for vaccines himself at the beginning of the pandemic.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cDeSantis threw himself into misleadingly disparaging the vaccines, convening skeptics to buck guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and seeking to investigate vaccine makers for fraud. \u2026 A review of DeSantis\u2019s public positions on the vaccines shows a full reversal that has unfolded gradually since 2021, seizing on the shots\u2019 waning efficacy against new virus variants and portraying evolving scientific advice as deliberate deceit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huffington Post<\/a>: \u201cDeSantis, Who Once Praised Vaccines, Now Wants To Prosecute Those Who Pushed Them\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NBC News<\/a>: \u201cDeSantis was a major booster of the vaccines last year and once called them lifesaving, but he later turned against them, mirroring a shift in conservative Republican opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since launching his presidential campaign, DeSantis has only ramped up his anti-vaccine tirade.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanity Fair<\/a>: \u201cInside Ron DeSantis\u2019s Plan to Ride Anti-vaxxism to the White House\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBS News<\/a>: \u201cFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis injects presidential politics into the COVID vaccine debate\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press<\/a>: \u201cContradicting federal health officials, Florida Gov. DeSantis recommends against new COVID booster\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico<\/a>: \u201cRon DeSantis has a problem: Covid vaccine skepticism isn\u2019t moving GOP voters\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico<\/a>: \u201cFew, if any, major presidential candidates have so openly aligned themselves with vaccine skepticism as DeSantis. His team has routinely minimized Operation Warp Speed \u2014 the Trump-administration effort to expedite the development of Covid-19 vaccines. He has openly discussed placing conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in a top public health role in a prospective DeSantis administration. And in mid-August, he acknowledged to POLITICO that he never received a Covid booster shot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeSantis forced Florida to be the only state in the entire country that refused to pre-order vaccines for children under five years old or provide state resources for administration.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico<\/a>: \u201cDeSantis says Florida is \u2018affirmatively against\u2019 Covid-19 vaccines for young kids\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cKids\u2019 coronavirus vaccines are hard to find in Fla. Many blame DeSantis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miami Herald<\/a>: \u201cFlorida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo confirmed that the state decision to block county health departments from obtaining the newly FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines for young children may prevent an estimated 30,000 disadvantaged kids from accessing the vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McClatchy<\/a>: \u201cEvery state but Florida pre-ordered COVID-19 vaccines for kids under 5\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico<\/a>: \u201cFlorida is the only state to skip pre-ordering Covid-19 vaccines for kids\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last December, DeSantis\u2019s administration carelessly let one million COVID tests expire.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Beast<\/a>: \u201cRon DeSantis: I Let a Million Unused COVID Tests Expire in State Stockpile\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florida Politics<\/a>: \u201cRon DeSantis administration confirms up to 1 million COVID-19 rapid tests expired last month\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of focusing on saving lives and pushing treatments that we know work, Ron DeSantis spent the pandemic lying and putting Floridians at risk.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bloomberg<\/a>: \u201cDeSantis Touts Covid Treatments After FDA Says They Don\u2019t Work\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orlando Sentinel<\/a>: \u201cDeSantis blasts Biden for ending antibody treatments even as drugmakers say they don\u2019t work\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeSantis appointed a surgeon general who has consistently spread dangerous misinformation about vaccines.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miami Herald<\/a>: \u201cDeSantis\u2019 surgeon general and health department draw fire for amplifying vaccine doubts\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico<\/a>: \u201cFlorida surgeon general altered key findings in study on Covid-19 vaccine safety\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orlando Sentinel<\/a>: \u201cJoseph Ladapo says anti-vaccine crusade was God\u2019s plan. It cost him his peers\u2019 trust\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florida\u2019s Voice<\/a>: \u201cJUST IN: Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo declares mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have a \u2018terrible safety profile\u2019 \u2018I\u2019m not sure anyone should be taking them […] They have a terrible safety profile.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orlando Sentinel<\/a>: \u201cLadapo stood with other doctors in white coats at the event, which promoted zinc and the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 cure and blasted lockdowns and other COVID-19 restrictions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tampa Bay Times<\/a>: \u201cFlorida surgeon general touts book on show that backs QAnon conspiracy theory\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to Ron DeSantis\u2019s so-called \u201cmedical freedom\u201d town hall in New Hampshire today, DNC spokesperson Sarafina Chitika released the following statement:\u00a0 \u201cRon DeSantis\u2019s attempt to resurrect his old and tired anti-vaccine tantrum today is a reminder to voters that he played political games with Florida\u2019s COVID response at every turn in a cheap effort […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1027936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat You Need to Know About Anti-Vaxxer Ron DeSantis - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/what-you-need-to-know-about-anti-vaxxer-ron-desantis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-01T14:52:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/what-you-need-to-know-about-anti-vaxxer-ron-desantis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/what-you-need-to-know-about-anti-vaxxer-ron-desantis\/\",\"name\":\"What You Need to Know About Anti-Vaxxer Ron DeSantis - 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