Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) fired back Thursday at critics who were upset he told students at a Wednesday school event that they could take off their face masks, referring to them as part of “COVID theater.”
DeSantis included footage of the event in a new video that he tweeted with the caption, “The political science show cannot go on. It’s curtain call for COVID theater.”
WATCH:
The political science show cannot go on.
It’s curtain call for COVID theater. pic.twitter.com/CoUIC6NX83
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) March 3, 2022
DeSantis’ video showed the original interaction between DeSantis and the students, and then cut to video of Tuesday evening’s State of the Union address – where almost no one was wearing a mask following Monday’s rollback of the Capitol Hill mask mandate.
“Don’t follow the science, follow the political science,” the video continued, showing photos of Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams smiling without her mask — surrounded by a classroom full of elementary school students who were still forced to mask up for class.
The video went on to show Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garrett (D), mask-free at the last two football games of the NFL season — and ended with the news update announcing that a number of Democratic governors had gotten onboard with the rolling back of statewide mask mandates.
It cut to DeSantis at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) then, who said, “Florida led when it counted. We led early on when the weight of the world was coming, bearing down on our shoulders. Freedom has prevailed in the Sunshine State!”
The original video showed DeSantis walking up to a lectern to speak and addressing the students who were going to stand behind him.
“You do not have to wear those masks. Please take them off. Honestly, it’s not doing anything. We’ve gotta stop with this Covid theater,” DeSantis said, and the audience laughed. “So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous.”
NEW: @GovRonDeSantis annoyed with USF students—
"You do not have to wear those masks. Please take them off. Honestly, it's not doing anything. We've gotta stop with this Covid theater. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous."https://t.co/7j1Pb2hV53 @WFLA pic.twitter.com/ZIOyTHLOh3
— Evan Donovan (@EvanDonovan) March 2, 2022
A couple of the students did remove their masks after the governor’s comments, but according to later reports, one parent claimed that her son had been pressured into doing so.
WATCH:
"I took mine off."
"Did you feel pressure by the governor to do that?"
"A little."
This @HillsboroughSch senior's mom says she's very upset and it was "shocking" for Gov. DeSantis to ask her son & the other high school students to take off their masks. https://t.co/JNYeA9dYci pic.twitter.com/W6WZbAOKh8
— Justin Schecker (@WFLAJustin) March 3, 2022
Parents called DeSantis a “bully”:
"I would tell (the governor) to stop bullying kids."
Kevin Brown says Gov. DeSantis had no right to tell his son and the other high school students to take off their masks.
His son decided to keep his mask on during the press conference at USF. https://t.co/JNYeA9dYci @WFLA pic.twitter.com/nnBTJNmfQF
— Justin Schecker (@WFLAJustin) March 3, 2022
The media coverage that followed painted DeSantis — who clearly told the students that they could continue to wear the masks if they chose to do so — as a bully who was exerting pressure on kids for his own political reasons.
The headline from NBC affiliate WFLA read, “‘This is ridiculous’: DeSantis scolds students for wearing face masks during USF visit.”
A follow-up article from the same outlet read, “‘Stop bullying kids’: Students, parents respond to Gov. DeSantis telling students to take off their masks.”
“Ron DeSantis just yelled at students for wearing masks. This is not a leader. This is a bully. A petulant child. Shameful,” @meidastouch tweeted.
“Here’s Ron DeSantis scolding kids about wearing masks because he’s terrible. DeSantis should resign over this alone. So weak and pathetic,” @funder added.
CNN’s headline read, “Ron DeSantis just yelled at high school students for wearing masks.”