As Florida's coronavirus deaths worsen, our focus needs to sharpen [View all]

State Sen. Janet Cruz says it’s time for the governor to govern.

The coronavirus has killed more than 25,000 people in Florida. We have eclipsed 70,000 total hospitalizations and 1.6 million total COVID-19 cases. If you have watched our governor recently, though, the indication is that everything is going exactly how he planned.

The PR dog-and-pony show we have all witnessed paints a picture of progress that is wholly unrealistic. I do not wish to question Gov. Ron DeSantis’ intentions, but at this point, he seems more interested in locking horns with social media companies over what he describes as “Big Tech censorship” than addressing an unprecedented pandemic and what it has done to our state’s workforce, rampant housing insecurity and vaccine distribution.

This month, the governor attended an event in Texas where he lamented the “decapitating” of Parler, an alternative social network popular with conservatives. Too often, DeSantis has been intent on mirroring former President Donald Trump’s behavior, a disappointing metaphor of the imprinting a duckling goes through with its mother. As Trump goes so, does DeSantis, right down to the combative badgering of reporters.

As CNN reporter Rosa Flores questioned him on what has gone wrong with vaccine distribution in our state, the governor flippantly interrupted and spoke over her asking, “are you going to ask a question or give a speech?” as she attempted to give her question context. It was excruciating to watch.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2021/01/25/as-floridas-coronavirus-deaths-worsen-our-focus-needs-to-sharpen-column/