GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis referred to his state as “God’s waiting room” during a coronavirus briefing.
During a press conference in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, DeSantis attempted to tout his handling of the coronavirus in the state by comparing the death rate seen in Florida nursing homes with Northeastern states like New York and New Jersey.
“Florida is ground zero for the nursing home. I mean, we’re God’s waiting room. We have a huge number of facilities, a huge number of residents,” DeSantis said approximately nine minutes into the press conference.
“I think the Florida model has been good. We’re going to continue to look for ways that you can make it even better. I think that as you have more point of care testing, and that becomes more widely available, that gives you a lot of options,” DeSantis continued, listing other steps Florida will take going forward to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo promptly admonished DeSantis for his description of Florida during the coronavirus briefing. “Governor, this isn’t a time to do stand-up, it’s a time to stand up and lead,” Rizzo said, according to local media.
However, Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino defended DeSantis’s comments, asserting they were not meant to make light of the situation.
“In 1981, when DeSantis was just 3 years old, The New York Times was already making a printed reference to the ‘God’s waiting room’ reputation of Florida,” Cerabino wrote. “In 2013, columnist George Will modified it slightly by referring to Florida as ‘God’s antechamber.’ But that was just the bow-tie-wearing Will trying to be fancy.”
