Chris Cuomo Says DeSantis Is Holding U.S. 'Hostage' to COVID-19

Landon Mion

Aug 01, 2021 12:30 PM August 01, 2021 12:30 PM

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo said that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was holding the country "hostage" for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This comes on the heels of DeSantis signing an executive order Friday to prohibit mask mandates in Florida's public schools. This order follows new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommending that all students, teachers and staff at K-12 schools mask up, regardless vaccination status.

Cuomo unleashed attacks on DeSantis Friday night, suggesting that the governor is preventing the country from moving past the pandemic.

"The question becomes as a policy perspective, is how long do you allow the majority of this country, Republicans, Democrats, independents, south, north, the majority of every group and demographic we have, have gotten vaccinated, how long do you allow them to be held hostage in states, let's say, like Florida, where you have the governor saying, 'yeah, I know it's breaking out, I'm going the other way, don't Fauci my Florida, no mask mandates, I'll let the parents decide,'" Cuomo asked Adm. Brett Giroir on "Cuomo Prime Time" Friday night. "Where is that messaging going to get you?"

"if you're not vaccinated and if you have not had Covid...you're going to get the Delta variant," says the testing czar for former Pres. Trump.

"On average, one person will transmit this to nine people, unlike the original virus, which got transmitted to two or three," he adds. pic.twitter.com/XV74MGbVEw
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) July 31, 2021

But this is not Cuomo's first time targeting DeSantis, as he said last year that the Florida governor mishandled the pandemic and questioned the praise he received from Republicans.