On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) reacted to criticism he received for criticizing the “theater” of students behind him wearing masks “bullying is locking kids out of school, which they did. Bullying is forcing kids to wear masks for eight hours a day, which they did for two years and are only stopping now because the polling’s changed.” And said he’s against the “two-tier society” where “You have adults that are not masked and then the students are all masked or you’ll have a crowded restaurant where everyone’s having a good time and they make the servers wear masks.”
DeSantis said, “Well, Tucker, none of the adults were wearing masks and it seemed to me that someone told those kids they had to do it. So, I just wanted to make it very clear they do not need to be doing it. Obviously, in Florida, it’s a free state, you can do it. But I think it’s also important to point out that there’s no reason to do it for young and healthy kids, especially in the state of Florida.”
He continued, “We never had a mask mandate, of course, but our guidance from our health department is not to wear these cloth masks, and I think it needs to be said. Because people have been lied to for two years. … And you know, they talk about oh, by letting someone have a choice to take off their mask and welcoming that choice, that that’s somehow bullying. Tucker, bullying is locking kids out of school, which they did. Bullying is forcing kids to wear masks for eight hours a day, which they did for two years and are only stopping now because the polling’s changed. Bullying is kicking people out of work because of vaccine mandates. We fought all of those policies in Florida, we lifted people up, and we liberated them from local school boards and governments that imposed them.”
DeSantis added, “You have adults that are not masked and then the students are all masked or you’ll have a crowded restaurant where everyone’s having a good time and they make the servers wear masks. I reject the two-tier society. I say every time we go, if we’re at a big event and the servers are wearing it, they should be liberated from those masks. It is political theater. They’re doing it for the appearance. They’re not doing it because it’s having any meaningful medical impact.”
He concluded, “[W]e’ve seen time and time again all these left-wing lockdown politicians, they’ll impose mandates on others, then they’ll be out cavorting. And by the way, they escape to Florida and live under our freedom time and time again, and we’ve documented that as well. So, it is a hierarchy, and that’s what they’re trying to impose and we reject that in Florida. And yes, if I have people that I think are being bullied into doing masks, I’m going to let them know, you have a right to take it off. And I’m also going to tell them the truth, which not a lot of adults have told them, that it’s not effective to wear them in the first place.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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