COVID provided politicians with an opportunity to embrace their worst authoritarian impulses.
From the very top was Dr. Fauci, who used his position to encourage states to enact draconian lockdowns, mask mandates, and mandatory vaccinations.
Now Donald Trump wants you to forget about what he did for Dr. Fauci.
Donald Trump did some good things during his Presidency, but his record was far from perfect.
DeSantis has recently called Trump out on his handling of COVID, especially the fact that he kept Dr. Fauci in his position and allowed Fauci to push authoritarian measures on state Governors.
Contrast that with DeSantis, who was the first Governor in the nation to defy Dr. Fauci and reopened his state.
Trump has recently tried to attack DeSantis’ handling of COVID in Florida, pointing to the number of deaths in the state.
Of course, Florida has one of the largest populations of older Americans, who faced an increased risk of death from COVID, than most states.
Responding to Trump’s criticism, DeSantis said, “He would have never said that, right? Hell, his whole family moved to Florida under my Governorship.”
Trump knows this issue is a weakness for him, and has thus tried to downplay it, claiming that he “didn’t listen to him [Fauci] much.”
But it’s clear to freedom-loving Americans that Dr. Fauci was allowed to cause immense damage during the Trump administration.
Allowing Fauci to keep his position is bad enough, but it gets even worse.
In an interview with Megyn Kelly, the host confronted Trump about giving Dr. Fauci a Presidential Commendation.
He doesn’t know who gave Fauci a PRESIDENTIAL COMMENDATION?!
I’ve gone from thinking he was an fine president, to an ok president, to wondering if he was ever president or if he was just a puppet because he seems to have been in charge of absolutely nothing. https://t.co/fMEtTPvFpw
— Melissa Blasek (@MelissablasekNH) September 14, 2023
Trump tried to claim that he “didn’t know who gave him the commendation.”
Of course, it being a PRESIDENTIAL Commendation means that Trump personally signed off on it.
So he is either lying, or he was signing off on important decisions without reading them.
Neither is a good look.
Trump can’t escape the fact that not only did he keep Fauci around, but he gave him a prestigious award on the way out.
Trump can hurl insults at DeSantis all day, but when it comes down to concrete issues like COVID, DeSantis is clearly the better candidate.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
