Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House medical adviser, with campaign merchandise online Wednesday.
The DeSantis campaign store featured products with messages like “Don’t Fauci My Florida” and “How the hell am I going to be able to drink a beer with a mask on?” Products for sale include t-shirts, hats, flags and beer koozies. The cheapest item for sale – a “Don’t Fauci My Florida” set of koozies– goes for $12, while the most expensive item goes for $40.
From a koozie that says “How the hell am I going to be able to drink a beer with a mask on?” to a T-shirt reading “Don’t Fauci my Florida,” a new line of products from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are creating a stir while showing clear disdain for Dr. Faucihttps://t.co/udOcmHIXcB
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) July 14, 2021
DeSantis is selling the merchandise to fundraise for his gubernatorial reelection campaign in 2022, The Hill reports. This is despite the fact that DeSantis could be a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, if he decides to run. (RELATED: BACKER: Ron DeSantis Is The Tip Of The GOP Spear In 2024)
Fauci spoke out against reopening Florida when DeSantis began the process during the fall of 2020.
“When you’re dealing with community spread, and you have the congregate setting where people get together–particularly without masks– you’re really asking for trouble,” he told ABC’s Good Morning America. “Now’s the time, actually, to double down a bit,” he continued.
DeSantis has been an adamant critic of government restrictions over the coronavirus.
“You tell people to get the vaccine and then you live your life.” He went on, “Florida’s open and people can make decisions based on information. We’re not going to have government dictate to people,” he told WSLS in March.