Florida On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed the Biden administration’s plans to appeal a judge’s decision enforcing mask requirements on planes and other forms of public transportation.
“Mandates should be avoided at all costs. There are none, “DeSantis stated this at a Destin, Florida event.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was sued by several states over its mask mandate on public transportation. The rule applied to buses, trains, and airplanes, but it was overturned on Monday by a federal judge appointed by then-President Donald Trump, who said the CDC lacked the authority to impose it.
Airlines, as well as Uber and Lyft, moved quickly after the ruling to make masks optional. On Thursday, DeSantis brought attention to a trend on social media that showed relieved passengers and flight attendants removing their masks.
“If they appeal this decision, it will be completely outrageous,” he said.
He continued, “Part of the reason they do it is because they enjoy exercising power over the people they govern.”
Given that the CDC stated that the mask mandate was “necessary” to protect public health, the Department of Justice has announced that it will appeal the decision to the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to reinstate the mandate. It could end up in front of the Supreme Court if it is struck down again. The decision has alarmed many in the medical community, and people who are immunocompromised or have children who are too young to be vaccinated have taken to social media to express their disappointment.
However, the Department of Justice’s decision to appeal is politically and legally complicated. If the mandate is overturned by a higher court, it could set a precedent that limits how far public health agencies can go when establishing safety rules in the future. The BA.2 subvariant is currently increasing in some parts of the United States.
The Biden administration, on the other hand, has been attempting to project a “new normal” in the United States, in which people who have been vaccinated can remove their masks in other indoor spaces. The impending midterm elections, as well as signals from a COVID-weary public, are driving the shift.
Even though a previous media dinner known as the Gridiron Dinner turned into a super-spreader event that sickened members of the Biden Cabinet with COVID-19, President Joe Biden plans to attend the White House Correspondents Association Dinner in Washington, DC.
On Thursday, DeSantis criticized the differing masking standards, saying it was strange that masks aren’t required in other parts of society but are required on planes.
“You’ll have someone sit in an aisle seat and put on a mask and pretend to eat peanuts for two hours so they don’t have to wear a mask and can breathe freely.” “And it’s all a ruse,” he added. “I can see why they do it. But is it a problem if someone is right next to them and all they want to do is breathe freely and read a magazine?”
Following his high-profile battles with the Biden administration, particularly over differences in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis’ star power has grown in the Republican Party. He’s up for reelection in Florida this November, but many Republican political insiders believe he’ll run for president in 2024, especially if Trump declines to run again.
DeSantis warned Democrats that after the election, they would return to mask mandates and urged people not to vote for them.
“People inclined to lockdown policies will absolutely try to do it again,” he said.
