- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took issue with Democrats for failing to abide by COVID restrictions.
- DeSantis stood by his approach and said Democrats were about "politics and control."
- Numerous high-profile Democrats have reported infections in recent weeks.
MIAMI — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday blasted Democrats back in Washington D.C. who have become infected with COVID-19 after previously advocating for strict lockdowns and mask mandates to protect against the deadly virus.
"Some people say they are hypocrites, and they are, but that's not the issue," DeSantis told reporters during a press conference in South Florida called so the governor could sign a bill expanding funding for foster care.
"The issue is that if they thought their policies really were necessary, that these mitigations really were effective, they would be abiding by it," DeSantis added. "They are not abiding by it because they know it's all about politics and control."
Numerous members of the media, the Biden administration, and Democratic members of Congress have become infected with COVID-19 in recent weeks amid a surge of cases in the Northeast. There also was a superspreader event, called the Gridiron Dinner, earlier this month in Washington where more than 10% of people who attended have so far reported testing positive for COVID-19.
Among Democrats in Congress who reported being infected during the last two weeks — though not necessarily at the dinner — include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Reps. Adam Schiff of California and Joaquin Castro of Texas. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are among the Biden administration officials who have publicly acknowledged being infected.
All reported they were vaccinated and were having only mild symptoms.
Members of the Biden administration began to shed their masks ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address, saying that vaccines that prevent people from serious illness and death were widely available, and that cases had adequately fallen to allow for the change in mitigation measures. Democratic governors facing reelection shed mandates in many of their states even sooner.
But the latest outbreak has raised questions during White House press conferences about the Biden administration's message that the US is ready for a new phase of the pandemic.
DeSantis is up for reelection in 2022 and is seen as a front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 should former President Donald Trump choose not to make another bid for the White House.
He frequently clashes with the Biden administration, including over his hands-off approach to COVID-19 in which he pressed businesses and schools to reopen before vaccines were widely available and against the advice of many federal health officials. More than 73,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Florida, out of nearly 1 million nationally, according to a New York Times tracker.
On Tuesday, DeSantis said he stood by his state's approach to the pandemic and said it wouldn't change.
"I just want to be very clear that as long as I sit in the chair in which I sit, no Floridian will be restricted, mandated, or locked down," DeSantis said to a round of applause in the room.
The problem of breaking self-imposed mandates has been going on since the start of the pandemic, DeSantis said, pointing to politicians who supported mask mandates and stay-at-home orders but then vacationed in Florida.
DeSantis didn't name anyone but Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been among those spotted maskless in Miami Beach during the winter holidays. The Democratic Governor's Association also held a retreat in Palm Beach in February.
"If I had a dollar for every lockdown politician that escaped their own policies to come to our free state, then I'd be set for life," DeSantis said.
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