Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate “unconstitutional” and argued it is “not based on science” during a Friday press briefing.
Biden announced Thursday that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will require private businesses with 100 plus employees to mandate vaccines or test them weekly. The president criticized “elected officials”— particularly DeSantis and Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott— that have banned policies mandating COVID-19 protocols, threatening to “get them out of the way,” according to Newsweek.
“Generally, when you’re taking action that’s unconstitutional, that threatens the jobs of the people in my state, many, many thousands of jobs, I’m standing for them,” the governor said. “We’re going to protect their jobs and against federal overreach. And this is a guy who criticizes the state of Florida for protecting parents’ rights and he says ‘School boards should be able to eliminate parents’ rights and force five-year-old kids to wear masks all day.”‘
“Yet here he comes from Washington, D.C., instituting an unprecedented mandate which even his own people acknowledge in the past is not constitutional, that’s not leadership and I think the problem I have with Joe Biden more than anything, this guy doesn’t take responsibility for anything. He’s always trying to blame other people, blame other states.”
NEW – Florida Gov. DeSantis says Biden’s vaccine mandates are “not based on science” and “will ultimately lose in court”.pic.twitter.com/qmFzMiehSa
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) September 10, 2021
The governor blamed Biden’s policies for the 300% rise in COVID-19 cases from the previous year despite the president’s promises to “shut down the virus” during his campaign. He added that the mandate does not follow science since it does not exempt those with natural immunity. (RELATED: ‘Only Mass Civil Disobedience Will Save Us’: JD Vance Shreds Biden’s Vaccine Mandate On American Businesses)
“Many of these people [COVID patients] have already recovered and they have immunity. The idea that somehow, you’ll have someone that gets a Johnson & Johnson and they can work but someone that’s got natural immunity somehow can’t, that natural immunity is strong,” DeSantis continued. “So it’s not based on science, and you can say, he says he’s ‘losing patience with people.'”
“At the end of the day, we don’t live with a one-person rule in this country, we live in a constitutional system which people’s rights are respected, but particularly in this juncture their livelihoods and their jobs have to be protected. Just think about what this mandate will do, it’s going to drive people out of work, out of hospitals, out of all this stuff where you have a need for people.”
“So it’s totally counterproductive and I think it’ll ultimately lose in court but before that there needs to be action taken to protect the people of our state and hopefully, of the entire United States. Nobody should lose their job based on their decision,” the governor concluded.
Several Republican state attorney generals threatened to take legal action against Biden’s new mandate Thursday, saying they are reviewing all legal protocols of the legislation. A new poll revealed that nearly three-quarters of unvaccinated Americans would prefer to quit their job than receive the shot.