WASHINGTON – Gov. Ron DeSantis fired back at President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
The Republican governor and the Democratic president disagree on the need for face mask mandates amid a surge in COVID cases. Florida faced more than 50,000 coronavirus infections in just three days.
“If you’re not going to help, get out of the way,” Biden said during a news conference Tuesday.
Biden was criticizing DeSantis for signing an executive order prohibiting school districts from issuing face mask mandates.
“If you are coming after the rights in Florida, I am standing in your way,” DeSantis said in response during a news conference Wednesday.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said Biden “called out steps” that DeSantis should have taken as Florida quickly becomes the country’s epicenter of the pandemic. The 7-day average of daily deaths is rising again in Florida, according to the John Hopkins tracker.
“Joe Biden has taken to himself to try and single out Florida,” Desantis said in response.
He also added a message about immigration to Biden: “Why don’t you do your job? Why don’t you get this border secure? And until you do this, I don’t want to hear a blip about COVID from you.”
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Thursday evening report from Washington