DeSantis claims Florida ‘chose freedom over Fauci-ism’ during pandemic, amid Trump attacks

Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis touted his state’s response to COVID-19 on Saturday, claiming they chose “freedom over Fauci-ism,” amid former President Trump’s recent attacks on his pandemic record.

“We held the line when freedom itself hung in the balance,” DeSantis argued during Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-Iowa) annual Roast and Ride fundraiser in Des Moines. “We refused to let our state descend into some type of Fauci-an dystopia, where people’s livelihoods were ruined and their freedoms were curtailed.”

“We protected people’s jobs. We protected their rights, their businesses, and made sure our kids could have an education. In short, we chose freedom over Fauci-ism, and we were right to do so,” he added, referring to Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) who helped lead the country’s COVID-19 response in the Trump and Biden administrations.

Trump has repeatedly hit the Florida governor over his response to COVID, pointing to the state’s relatively high number of deaths and its brief lockdown at the outset of the pandemic.

“How about the fact that he had the third-most deaths of any state,” the former president said in a campaign video late last month, adding, “Even [former New York Gov. Andrew] Cuomo did better. He was No. 4.”

“So why do they say that DeSanctus did a good job?” Trump added in a Truth Social post on Wednesday. “New York had fewer deaths! Also, he shut down the State, and even its beaches (unlike other Republican Governors).”

The Florida governor responded to Trump’s comments, claiming the former president wouldn’t have made the same comments “six months ago.”

“He would have never said that, right? He used to say how great Florida was,” DeSantis said in response. “Hell, his whole family moved to Florida under my governorship.”

Florida had the third-highest number of deaths from COVID-19 in 2021, followed by New York, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, the two states are also the third- and fourth-largest states in the nation, and Florida had the 18th-highest death rate from COVID-19 per 100,000 residents in 2021.

DeSantis imposed a COVID-19 lockdown on April 1, 2020, but began moving towards reopening the state at the end of the month. He fully lifted the order on September 25, 2020. 

While he avoided the topic of Trump in his speech in Iowa on Saturday, DeSantis appeared to take a subtle dig at the former president’s brash style.

“Leadership is not about entertainment,” he said. “Leadership is not about virtue signaling or building a brand. Leadership is ultimately about results.”