Many of us are familiar with Ford’s Theatre, the Apollo Theater, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, or even the Tampa Theatre.
But Republicans are now calling out “COVID theater.”
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida did it earlier this week in complaining about the Democrats’ requirements to attend the State of the Union address on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told students at the University of South Florida to quit the “COVID theater” during a visit there.
DeSantis visited USF to hold a press conference about $20 million in new funding for cybersecurity education programs.
During the stop, some students gathered around DeSantis as part of the backdrop. When he saw their masks, DeSantis encouraged them to take them off.
“You do not have to wear those masks,” DeSantis told the group.
“I mean, please take them off. Honestly, it’s not doing anything and we’ve gotta stop with this COVID theater. So if you want to wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous.”
The students were from a nearby high school that includes a cybersecurity program in its curriculum.
State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the only statewide elected Democrat who hopes to challenge DeSantis in the fall gubernatorial election, complained that DeSantis was a “bully.”
“I can’t believe a grown man would bully high school students like that,” Fried said in a statement. “He’s clearly unhinged. The governor talks a lot about freedom, but only if he gets his way. That’s not freedom, that’s dictatorial and unacceptable.”
An ironic comment there, coming from someone in the party of President Joe Biden, who demanded that 100 million Americans get a vaccine, whether they wanted or needed it because his patience with the unvaxxed had worn thin, and who demanded that those not jabbed be fired from their jobs.
DeSantis’ spokeswoman Christina Pushaw rightly noted that DeSantis did not “bully” the students. It was their choice, she said, to wear or not to wear.
“As the governor said, ‘you can wear them if you want’ but there’s ‘no evidence’ masks make any difference,” Pushaw said.
“That has been clear for a long time, and the data informed our state’s official guidance. Following Florida, the CDC has even stopped recommending mask wearing for most Americans.”
“After two years of mixed messages from health authorities and the media, the governor wants to make sure everyone is aware of the facts and data now, so they can feel free and comfortable without a mask,” she added.
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