Florida: “The Lie Of The Lockdown.”

Governor DeSantis called it “the lie of the lockdown.

“What about all the lock-downed states where you still have an explosion in cases?…”

“How has that worked out in the states that have done it?” he said. “Has that stopped an outbreak in Minnesota? Illinois? Michigan? What about New Jersey?

“People in Florida wear them when they go out. They don’t have to be strung up by a bayonet to do it. Fining people is, I think, totally overboard.”

DeSantis says no new lockdowns, mask mandates or any other anti-COVID-19 measure in Florida

KISSIMMEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday ruled out imposing any further coronavirus restrictions or a mask mandate, despite rising case numbers across the state and nation.

DeSantis said there would be “no lockdowns, no fines, no school closures. No one’s losing their job because of a government dictate. Nobody’s losing their livelihood or their business. That is totally off the table,” he said.

Monday’s event at Boggy Creek Elementary was DeSantis’ first news conference in weeks, meant to highlight a new order allowing schools to stay open for the rest of the year.

He said he would continue his strategy of protecting the most vulnerable of Floridians, especially those in nursing homes.

The governor has prevented local governments from imposing mask mandates and waived all outstanding fines for noncompliance of previously issued face-covering orders.

“I’m opposed to mandates, period,” he said. “I don’t think they work.”

He pointed to the number of cases also rising in states that had mandates as a reason not to have one in Florida.

“How has that worked out in the states that have done it?” he said. “Has that stopped an outbreak in Minnesota? Illinois? Michigan? What about New Jersey? What about all the states where you have an explosion in cases?… People in Florida wear them when [they] go out. They don’t have to be strung up by a bayonet to do it. Fining people is, I think, totally overboard.”

DeSantis talked further about what he called “the lie of the lockdown.”

“Why are states having to lock down two or three times then if lockdowns are so effective?” DeSantis said.

He pivoted to making it a class issue, saying “the cost of the lockdowns are borne by working-class people. The benefit is borne by the Zoom class, upper-income people who can work from home.”

DeSantis also discounted the idea of continued social distancing as vaccines are rolled out.

“People, even with the vaccine, say, ‘social distance until 2022,’” he said. “No way, that is just totally overboard.”