‘How Orwellian’: Orlando newspaper slams ‘do-nothing DeSantis’ as a ‘fraud’ and a ‘phony’

The Editorial Board of one of Florida's top newspapers is criticizing Republican Governor Ron DeSantis as a "fraud" and a "phony" for his horrific handling of the Sunshine State's COVID crisis, and then taking a "victory lap" for one week of improved results after "Florida's summer of suffering."

"Florida led the nation in case rates for much of the summer, and our governor was silent. Well, not totally silent. He did rail against mask and vaccine mandates, measures intended to prevent people from falling ill," the Orlando Sentinel's Editorial Board writes. "Now, a governor whose sole contribution to fighting the outbreak was to expand antibody treatments for people after they got infected is taking full credit for the decline in cases."

"What a fraud. What a phony," they declare, chastising the governor with White House wishes for having "the gall, the nerve, to take a victory lap."

The paper notes that from July to October approximately 21,000 Floridians died from COVID. (The total number of Florida COVID deaths is 59,495.)

"Compare that to California, a warm-weather state with nearly twice the population of Florida and a governor who believes in public health. California had just 8,600 deaths during that same summer surge, according to Johns Hopkins," they note.

DeSantis "could have made another major push for Floridians to get vaccinated. But he didn't, possibly because his Republican Party is rapidly aligning itself with the anti-vaxxer movement," the writer, adding that he chose "to make masks a cultural wedge issue" by banning any local mandates.

"And now, the do-nothing governor is trying to claim credit for this surge coming to an end," the editors lament. "It is DeSantis' final and most essential command — to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. How Orwellian."