Team DeSantis Scores a Victory Against Jen Psaki

Katie Pavlich | August 03, 2021 12:00 PM

During the daily White House briefing on Monday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki went after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and falsely accused him of downplaying the need for Wuhan coronavirus vaccinations.

Psaki goes hard after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, urging him to do more to "encourag[e] people to get vaccinated," "wear masks, including allowing people and schools to mandate" them. She adds he needs to choose whether "to follow public health" to save lives or "follow politics" pic.twitter.com/YXsXNgI16B
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 2, 2021

Governor DeSantis: "Many Florida schoolchildren have suffered under forced masking policies, and it is prudent to protect the ability of parents to make decisions regarding the wearing of masks by their children."

Jen Psaki: pic.twitter.com/o05RSAmJ4A
— Corey A. DeAngelis (@DeAngelisCorey) August 3, 2021

Team DeSantis wasted no time firing back against the accusations and reiterated the governor's long time support for Operation Warp Speed to develop the vaccine.

"By dismissively ignoring Governor DeSantis' efforts to protect vulnerable Floridians, Psaki is the one playing politics with the pandemic," DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw released in a statement to Fox News. "The White House should be more concerned about the flip-flopping of the CDC, which is inadvertently promoting vaccine hesitancy with their confusing, contradictory public communications. Stating that vaccinated people should wear masks and socially distance is implying that the vaccines do not change anything, which is the wrong message for our federal government to be promoting."

As an Assistant Secretary of HHS, I attest that we always knew @RonDeSantisFL as an enthusiastic supporter of Operation Warp Speed, his team always engaged in the process where they could help, and he always expressed his eagerness to deploy the new vaccines in Florida.

ALWAYS. https://t.co/4jrKj9jNNP
— Cancer Slayer (@MichaelRCaputo) August 3, 2021

When the vaccine became available earlier this year, DeSantis prioritized Florida's most vulnerable and senior population. The Left criticized him for doing so.