Ron DeSantis is doubling down on being an insufferable jerk:
DeSantis held events in Sarasota and Miami Tuesday amid a record-setting spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, but said the situation is not as dire as some have portrayed it and focused on other data to make his case.
The governor said “the best indicator” of what’s happening with COVID-19 is emergency room visits for COVID-19-like illness.
“That has basically leveled off since last week,” he said. “I’d like to see that go down. Once that starts going down then the other indicators will follow.”
Florida is a national epicenter for the latest wave of COVID-19 cases, but unlike with previous waves there has been little effort at the state or local level to mitigate the surge in cases. DeSantis opposes restrictions on businesses and statewide mask requirements, and also has limited what local governments can do.
Vaccinations have been starting to climb again in Florida after falling for months, but are nowhere near the April peak.
DeSantis was active in vaccination distribution efforts earlier this year, but has been criticized for not doing more lately to promote the vaccine. The governor touched on how effective the vaccines are Tuesday, noting 25,000 vaccinated individuals have been hospitalized in Florida since May 1.
“What you’re seeing is the severity is much less in those cases,” he said.
The governor also emphasized his strategy of getting vaccines to seniors first, touting the fact that the vast majority of Florida seniors are vaccinated, which could prevent the latest surge from being as deadly.
Florida had 11,515 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 Tuesday, according to the Florida Hospital Association, the third straight day of record hospital cases.
Some Florida hospitals have been struggling to manage the increase in cases. The AdventHealth hospital system in Central Florida recently went to “black” status and announced that elective surgeries are being delayed.
Many hospitals have also limited visitors.
DeSantis said Florida’s hospital system isn’t overwhelmed.
“Obviously media does hysteria, you try to fearmonger, you try to do this stuff and when they’ll talk about hospitalizations, our hospitals are open for business,” DeSantis said in Miami, adding: “I don’t want to see a repeat because of the media hysteria where people who have heart problems or stroke are not going in to get care”
This attitude isn’t going over well:
The latest surge of COVID-19 might be catching up with Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A new poll from St. Pete Polls finds the Governor’s approval rating has sagged considerably, with more Floridians now saying they do not approve of the job DeSantis is doing than those who say they approve.
The poll, which was conducted Monday and Tuesday among 3,952 likely Florida voters through an automated phone polling system, also found DeSantis falling behind one Democratic rival for the 2022 gubernatorial election, trailing Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist. DeSantis has a slight lead on Democratic Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in the poll.
The poll also shows Floridians are not in agreement with DeSantis when it comes to his opposition to mask mandates for school children.
DeSantis drew just 44% of Florida voters saying they approve of the job he is doing, while 49% said they do not approve of his job performance. The rest were unsure.
That is a huge swing from the job approval numbers DeSantis received in a Florida Chamber of Commerce poll in May. That survey gave him a 55% approval for his job performance, with 40% not approving.
In the St. Pete Polls survey, DeSantis nearly broke even among partisan voters, with Republicans not quite overcoming the Democrats’ opinions.
For Democrats, 74% said they do not approve of his job performance and 19% said they do. For Republicans, 71% said they approve, while 22% said they do not.
Independent voters broke against him, with 39% saying they approve of his job performance, and 51% saying they do not approve.
DeSantis received positive marks from White, non-Hispanic voters, with 51% approving and 43% not approving. But he was underwater among Hispanic voters, among Asian or Pacific Islander voters, and especially among Black voters.
His job performance drew negative results among both men, a 44% to 49% split; and women, with a 44% to 48% split.
He also is not doing well within any age category except voters age 70 or older. The youngest set, those ages 18-29, posted 39% approval and 52% disapproval. The next youngest, those age 30-49, were not far off, with 40% approving and 51% disapproving. Those over 70 showed 49% approval, still not a majority, but more than the 43% who said no, they do not approve.
DeSantis still is viewed favorably in North Florida markets from Pensacola to Jacksonville, and is holding his own in Tampa and Fort Myers. Panama City voters gave him 71% approval against 20% disapproval. Tampa barely broke his way, with 48% saying they approve and 46% saying they don’t.
But the Governor is underwater in Orlando, Gainesville, West Palm Beach and Miami. In Orlando, 44% said they approve of his job performance, while 48% said they do not. In Miami, just 31% of voters said they approve, while 61% said they do not.
The St. Pete Polls survey also gives President Joe Biden a slight positive nod, with Florida voters favoring him at 49%, as 46% gave the President poor marks.
The survey’s unusually large sample size gives it a margin of error of 1.6%, meaning the key findings are falling outside the margin.
The President-in-exile at Mar-a-lago is no doubt relieved to see it. He was reportedly getting annoyed at DeSantis’ popularity.
I have little doubt that he will recover his popularity once this crisis has passed. The state seems to love a roaring assholes and therefore has become the center of Trumpism in America. But that depends upon how bad this gets. He’s obviously counting on being able to maintain his reputation as a smartass, tough guy to win his re-election campaign, so his cavalier attitude about his voters getting sick and dying will pay off in the long run. I guess we’ll see.
Meanwhile, in California we are recalling the Governor even though he’s handled the crisis quite well. American politics are ridiculous right now.