President Joe Biden continued his war of words with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible 2024 rival, accusing some in the GOP of having a hypocritical stance on COVID-19 mandates.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday to mark the Senate’s passage of the bipartisan infrastructure package, Biden took aim at governors, such as DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who have opposed mask mandates while attempting to ban local and private sectors from implementing face-covering requirements.
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“One of the things that I find a little disingenuous [is] when I suggest people in zones where there is a high risk [to] wear the masks like you all do, I’m told that government should get out of the way and not do that, we don’t have the authority to do that,” he told reporters. “I find it interesting that some of the very people who are saying that, who hold government positions, are people who are threatening that if a schoolteacher asks a student if they’ve been vaccinated, or if a principal says that everyone in my school should wear a mask or a school board votes for it, that governor will nullify that.”
“That governor has the authority to say, ‘You can’t do that,’” Biden added. “I find that totally counterintuitive and, quite frankly, disingenuous.”
When asked if he had the authority to intervene in Texas and Florida to countermand these policies, Biden replied, “I don’t believe that I do thus far.” However, he noted the administration was “checking that.”
The White House has been openly critical of DeSantis and Abbott as the delta variant and the slow pace of vaccination have led to a new wave of COVID-19 cases. Press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday they should “get out of the way” if they “don’t want to abide by public health guidelines.”
Still, Biden’s team has tried to praise Republican governors who have largely abided by the guidelines.
“The vast majority of governors — Republican governors are doing exactly the right thing,” Psaki said. “They’re putting public health [first], they’re putting policies first, and they’re saving lives in the process.”
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DeSantis, in particular, is mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2024. His approach to mitigating the virus has frequently contrasted with departing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom Biden said did a “hell of a job” in discharging his duties.
