According to a new report from CNN, despite attacking Anthony Fauci on the campaign trail, Florida governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis praised the public health official during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic saying he was “‘really, really good and really, really helpful’ and ‘really doing a good job.’”
Since 2021, DeSantis has tried to rewrite history, but “on at least 10 different instances at press briefings in April and March [during 2020], DeSantis cited Fauci or mentioned his guidance when discussing his own support for restrictive policies like closing beaches and putting in place curfews.”
CNN: Ron DeSantis praised Anthony Fauci for Covid response in spring 2020 for ‘really doing a good job’
By Andrew Kaczynski | June 1, 2023
Key Points:
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“Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is attacking former President Donald Trump for ‘turning the country over to [Dr. Anthony] Fauci in March 2020’ but DeSantis was praising the chief public health official at the same time in previously unreported quotes, saying Fauci was ‘really, really good and really, really helpful’ and ‘really doing a good job.’”
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“In other comments, the Florida governor said he deferred to Fauci’s guidance on COVID-19 restrictions and later cited his guidance when communicating the policies he was putting in place early in the pandemic in the state of Florida.”
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“‘You have a lot of people there who are working very, very hard, and they’re not getting a lot of sleep,’ DeSantis said on March 25, 2020, at a briefing on Florida’s response. ‘And they’re really focusing on a big country that we have. And from Dr. Birx to Dr. Fauci to the vice president who’s worked very hard, the surgeon general, they’re really doing a good job. It’s a tough, tough situation, but they’re working hard.’”
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“In one of his first appearances as a candidate for the Republican nomination for president, DeSantis attacked Trump for following Fauci’s guidance during the Covid pandemic. Fauci served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases until retiring in 2022. He played a key early role in crafting the administration’s response to the pandemic, but often was criticized and sidelined by then-President Trump.”
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“‘I think [Trump] did great for three years, but when he turned the country over to Fauci in March of 2020 that destroyed millions of people’s lives,’ DeSantis said last Thursday. ‘And in Florida, we were one of the few that stood up, cut against the grain, took incoming fire from media, bureaucracy, the left, even a lot of Republicans, had schools open, preserved businesses.’”
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“‘If you are faced with a destructive bureaucrat in your midst like a Fauci, you do not empower somebody like Fauci. You bring him into the office and you tell him to pack his bags: You are fired,’ DeSantis said Tuesday at one of his first campaign events in Iowa.”
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“DeSantis, like Trump, later broke with Fauci over reopening Florida in July 2020, but he didn’t begin regularly harshly criticizing Fauci until spring 2021.”
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“Trump urged reopenings by May 2020 and DeSantis was one of the first to put in place plans to do so – for which Trump praised the Florida governor at an October 2020 rally.”
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“Last week, DeSantis’ campaign’s rapid response account and a spokesperson also shared a video from a Republican congressman that attacked Trump for praising Fauci, which used comments from March and February 2020, the same time DeSantis himself was praising Fauci.”
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“But DeSantis’ attacks rewrite history, according to a CNN KFile review of public appearances by DeSantis in 2020 as Trump began harshly criticizing Fauci much earlier than DeSantis. And in at least 10 different instances at press briefings in April and March, DeSantis cited Fauci or mentioned his guidance when discussing his own support for restrictive policies like closing beaches and putting in place curfews.”
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“Speaking at a news briefing on March 21, 2020, DeSantis made similar comments praising Fauci.”
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“‘The president’s task force has been great,’ DeSantis said. ‘I mean, you’ve called, you know, we’ve talked Dr. Fauci number of times, talked to, you know, the surgeon, US surgeon general number of times, VP, you know, they’ve been really, really good and really, really helpful.’”
Read the full report here.
Published: Jun 2, 2023 | Last Modified: Jun 7, 2023