Orlando Sentinel Skewers Fraud Ron DeSantis COVID-19 Spin: How Orwellian

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as a “fraud” in a new column , ripping him as “Orwellian” for now trying to take credit for low COVID-19 case numbers in the state.

“Florida led the nation in case rates for much of the summer, and our governor was silent. Well, not totally silent. He did rail against mask and vaccine mandates, measures intended to prevent people from falling ill,” the board noted in the damning essay published Friday.

“Now, a governor whose sole contribution to fighting the outbreak was to expand antibody treatments for people after they got infected is taking full credit for the decline in cases,” it charged.

DeSantis was hammered in the editorial as a “fraud” and a “phony” for having “the gall, the nerve, to take a victory lap.” The board listed just some of the things he didn’t do in a bid to thwart the pandemic.

“And now, the do-nothing governor is trying to claim credit for this surge coming to an end,” the editorial concluded. “It is DeSantis’ final and most essential command — to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. How Orwellian.”

The editorial board of the Miami Herald made much the same case in a column on Monday, accusing DeSantis of plunging into “anti-vaxx Crazyville .”

Read the Orlando Sentinel’s full editorial here.