Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fired back at the White House Wednesday, arguing that President Joe Biden should do his own job before lecturing anyone else.
DeSantis was responding to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who said Tuesday that governors in states like Florida, which had been experiencing spikes in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, would need to “get out of the way” of mitigation efforts like mask mandates in schools. (RELATED: ‘He’s Risking The Lives Of Children’: Joy Behar Calls Ron DeSantis A ‘Negligent Homicidal Sociopath’ For Opposing Masks In Schools)
WATCH:
DESANTIS: “If you’re trying to deny kids a proper in-person education, I’m gonna stand in your way… If you’re trying to restrict people, impose mandates, ruin their jobs… If you try to lock people down, I am standing in your way.” pic.twitter.com/jZi1ZWTXlC
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 4, 2021
“If you’re trying to deny kids a proper in-person education, I’m gonna stand in your way… If you’re trying to restrict people, impose mandates, ruin their jobs… If you try to lock people down, I am standing in your way,” DeSantis said before pivoting to direct his comments to Biden.
“Why don’t you do your job? Why don’t you get this border secure?” he asked. “And until you do that, I don’t wanna hear a blip about COVID from you, thank you.”
Psaki singled DeSantis out during Tuesday’s press briefing, saying, “If you aren’t going to help, if you aren’t going to abide by public health guidance, then get out of the way and let people do the right thing.”
Psaki on DeSantis’ handling of COVID in Florida and other states that have taken similar approaches:
“If you aren’t going to help, if you aren’t going to abide by public health guidance, then get out of the way and let people do the right thing.” https://t.co/nRjFa8Iyh9 pic.twitter.com/yYxffvfPd4
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) August 3, 2021
Other critics have questioned the White House’s apparent unwillingness to address the possibility that illegal immigrants coming across the U.S.-Mexico border may be facilitating the rapid spread of new coronavirus variants.