Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' biggest regret is that the state shut down for even a day due to the pandemic.
Gaetz’s comment came in an interview with Politico posted last week. Gaetz was reportedly recalling an earlier conversation he had with DeSantis.
"He told me," Gaetz said, "that his biggest regret as governor is that we ever locked down for even one day."
Politico said DeSantis had ordered a month-long stay-at-home order — on April 1, 2020. Last year, during the summer, DeSantis refused to do it again, despite spikes in the case count.
"We're not shutting down," he said. "We're going to go forward."
Axios noted that a year after the pandemic's start, Florida, the third most populous state, is neither the best nor the worst in some key categories in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak.
"Forty states throughout the country have higher per-capita COVID mortality for seniors than the state of Florida — 40 other states — and I think if you look at that, most of those states that have higher senior mortality locked down hard, they closed schools," DeSantis said.
Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., remains critical of the governor's efforts in curtailing the outbreak in the state. Crist is a former Florida governor, who is said to be considering another run for the post.
Politico reported that he called DeSantis’ coronavirus response "horrific" and "immoral."
Brian Ballard, the Trump-tied lobbyist, said: "It could have potentially gone very wrong."
And lawyer and Democratic donor John Morgan said: "He could have killed a bunch of us. But he didn’t."
Politico noted that approximately 2 million Floridians have tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 32,000 have died.
But even as DeSantis emerges as a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, he is now being credited for helping to keep businesses open while also reducing COVID-19 numbers and administering vaccines.
Recent polls of Florida Republicans showed DeSantis with higher net favorable ratings than former President Donald Trump. The numbers also suggested the governor was more popular than Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., both of whom also have presidential ambitions.
"He flies by instinct, not by instrument; he's a natural," said Ryan Tyson, a top Republican pollster whose recent survey for a private client was shared with Politico.
For a party base that wants Republicans to fight the mainstream media, confront liberals, and defy scientific experts, DeSantis is gaining momentum.
"Any serious handicapper would have to put DeSantis in tier one for 2024 – and tier one is not big," said Tony Fabrizio, who has worked for both Trump and DeSantis in 2020 and 2016, respectively.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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