Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told students standing behind him to take their masks off prior to a press conference he held at the University of South Florida on Wednesday.
Video of the incident went viral hours after the press conference had concluded, and it shows DeSantis walking toward a podium while telling a group of students standing behind it to take their masks off.
“You do not have to wear those masks. Please take them off,” the governor can be heard telling the students. “Honestly, it’s not doing anything. We’ve gotta stop with this COVID theater. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous.”
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https://twitter.com/EvanDonovan/status/1499086276519239680?s=20&t=SCKiyG42CbfcTGdXElAYcg
The students all promptly removed the masks.
Evan Donovan, a reporter with the Tampa area NBC affiliate WFLA, reported on Twitter that the students were from Middleton High School in Tampa and were there to participate in DeSantis’s press conference at the University of South Florida announcing new funding for cybersecurity education.
https://twitter.com/EvanDonovan/status/1499091215219925006?s=20&t=SCKiyG42CbfcTGdXElAYcg
DeSantis refused to implement a mask mandate during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and has derided pandemic restrictions. He also worked to ban local school districts from implementing mask mandates throughout the pandemic.
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The governor, who is currently seeking reelection, is widely seen as a major contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Hillsborough School District, which includes Middleton High School, said in a statement to WFLA that “it is a student and parents’ choice to protect their health in a way they feel most appropriate.” The district added it was “proud of the manner in which our students represented themselves and our school district.”
After the video continued to garner attention online, DeSantis’s press secretary Christina Pushaw told WFLA that “As the governor said, ‘You can wear them if you want,’ but there’s ‘no evidence’ masks make any difference.”
“Following Florida, the CDC has even stopped recommending mask wearing for most Americans,” she said. “After two years of mixed messages from health authorities and the media, the governor wants to make sure everyone is aware of the facts and data now, so they can feel free and comfortable without a mask.”
