{"id":1908089,"date":"2023-03-31T23:26:15","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T03:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/on-covid-trump-and-desantis-converged-and-diverged\/"},"modified":"2023-03-31T23:37:56","modified_gmt":"2023-04-01T03:37:56","slug":"on-covid-trump-and-desantis-converged-and-diverged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/on-covid-trump-and-desantis-converged-and-diverged\/","title":{"rendered":"On COVID, Trump and DeSantis Converged and Diverged"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fon-covid-trump-and-desantis-converged-and-diverged%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1908089&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<p>In recent weeks, both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have touted their own handling of the COVID pandemic while criticizing each other\u2019s response to the crisis.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s only natural in the slow run-up to 2024. Everyone wants to be able to say they got COVID right\u2014and hindsight is always 20\/20.<\/p>\n<p>On March 29, the \u201cTrump War Room\u201d Twitter account, associated with the former president\u2019s campaign team, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TrumpWarRoom\/status\/1641192739323650048?s=20\">posted a video denouncing DeSantis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>They sought to define the governor\u2019s response in dire terms with the caption: \u201cLockdowns. Armed checkpoints. School shutdowns. Beach and business closures.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3281824\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2020\/03\/22\/national-guard2-1200x890.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Members of the Florida National Guard help at a coronavirus testing site they set up at C.B. Smith Park on March 20, 2020, in Pembroke Pines, Florida. National Guard medics along with health care personnel with the Memorial Healthcare System, administer the test for COVID-19, which includes swabbing the patient\u2019s nose and throat. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>But that tweet fell flat with many readers, who \u201cadded context\u201d that \u201cthe governor quickly dropped that approach\u201d and has \u201cbeen hailed as an anti-restriction hero on the right.\u201d In addition, they defended DeSantis for following guidance from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p>Still, some agreed with the criticism of DeSantis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDeSantis\u2019s entire popularity is based on rewriting the history of his COVID response\u2026 He labeled FL as the \u2018freest\u2019 state, when that\u2019s far from true,\u201d one anonymous Trump supporter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MAGAoriginalist\/status\/1641194386695266304?s=20\">wrote on Twitter.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Some pundits assert that discontent over Trump\u2019s handling of the pandemic hurt his reelection bid in November 2020.<\/p>\n<p>On Jan. 31, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services <a href=\"https:\/\/www.phe.gov\/emergency\/news\/healthactions\/phe\/Pages\/2019-nCoV.aspx\">declared<\/a> a public health emergency. As the virus took hold in the succeeding weeks, Trump went on to declare a <a href=\"https:\/\/trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov\/presidential-actions\/proclamation-declaring-national-emergency-concerning-novel-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak\/\">national emergency<\/a>. He also recommended that businesses and schools close and that Americans stay at home.<\/p>\n<h2>In Retrospect, Trump Often Correct<\/h2>\n<p>But since then, even publications <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/donald-trumps-fiercest-critics-now-agree-his-covid-fighting-strategy-1663782\">such as Newsweek<\/a> have acknowledged that Trump was right about a number of key assertions about the virus.<\/p>\n<p>Toward the beginning of the pandemic, Trump blamed China for unleashing COVID on the world.<\/p>\n<p>He said it probably originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). At the time, the New York Times and other legacy media outlets <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/credibility-crisis-new-york-times-helped-mislead-america-over-covid-lab-leak-theory\">worked to discredit<\/a> that theory, asserting that supporters of the lab leak theory were \u201cconspiracy theorists,\u201d and trying to link the virus to a wet market in Wuhan.<\/p>\n<p>In April 2020, The Epoch Times explored the Wuhan lab-leak theory in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3bXWGxhd7ic\">a documentary on the origin of the virus.<\/a><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4978966\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11\/Wuhan-Institute-of-Virology-GettyImages-1230938269-1200x798.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Security personnel stand outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China\u2019s central Hubei province on Feb. 3, 2021. (Hector Retamal\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>The publication\u2019s early willingness to broach the lab-leak theory helped trigger a burst of hostile media coverage from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc10.com\/article\/news\/health\/coronavirus\/verify-unsolicited-paper-spreads-outlandish-covid-claims\/103-9290495e-a501-44fa-b7df-0bb0e385328b\">legacy media outlets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In recent weeks, however, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/from-the-very-beginning-the-lab-leak-theory-was-the-only-viable-theory-truth-over-news_5141723.html\">the U.S. Department of Energy finally acknowledged<\/a> that it was most likely true.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to that, on Jan. 28, 2020, Trump had actually praised China\u2019s handling of the virus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!\u201d he said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/1220818115354923009\">tweet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, just three days later, he issued an<a href=\"https:\/\/trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov\/presidential-actions\/proclamation-suspension-entry-immigrants-nonimmigrants-persons-pose-risk-transmitting-2019-novel-coronavirus\/\"> executive orde<\/a>r banning entry to non-citizens \u201cwho pose a risk of transmitting\u201d COVID, with a focus on China.<\/p>\n<p>He faced a strong backlash at the time.<\/p>\n<p>The day after the executive order was issued, then-candidate Joe Biden accused Trump of \u201cxenophobia\u201d on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/yes-biden-absolutely-did-oppose-the-china-travel-restrictions-and-call-them-xenophobic\">Twitter<\/a>, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/house\/480991-pelosi-trumps-expanded-travel-ban-is-outrageous-un-american-and-threatens-rule\/\">called the action<\/a>\u00a0\u201cdiscrimination disguised as policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3229106\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2020\/02\/06\/Pelosi-State-of-the-Union-1200x763.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rips a copy of President Donald Trump\u2019s State of the Union speech. (MANDEL NGAN\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>The New York Times, meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/04\/opinion\/trump-travel-ban-nigeria.html\">asserted<\/a> there was \u201cracism at the heart of Trump\u2019s \u2018travel ban.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump also stated that states, rather than the federal government, were mostly in charge of their COVID response. His successor, Joe Biden, has echoed that position.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after taking office in January 2021, Biden issued a flurry of COVID-related executive orders. Yet, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/bidens-virus-response-mimics-trumps-adds-bureaucracy_3672704.html\">an Epoch Times analysis showed<\/a> those actions largely duplicated work that Trump\u2019s team had already started while also incorporating new layers of bureaucracy.<\/p>\n<h2>Controversy Over \u2018The Vax\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Initially, the media went wild over Trump\u2019s assertion that his \u201cOperation Warp Speed\u201d initiative would lead to a vaccine being ready by the end of 2020. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/29\/us\/politics\/trump-coronavirus-vaccine-operation-warp-speed.html\">Some scoffed<\/a> at his claim. Yet, that is in fact what happened.<\/p>\n<p>In December 2020, about a month after Biden was declared the winner of the general election, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave \u201cemergency use\u201d approvals for people to receive Pfizer or Moderna COVID vaccination injections. Both Trump and Biden have heralded the speedy development of the shots as a significant achievement.<\/p>\n<p>Now, as side effects from the vaccines become more widely publicized, Trump faces criticism for pushing the shots and for following the advice of experts who recommended pursuit of the vaccine.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4726553\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/09\/12\/CP125333365-1200x845.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Vials of Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines sit on the counter at the Junction Chemist Pharmacy in Toronto, Canada, on June 18, 2021. (Nathan Denette\/The Canadian Press)<\/figure>\n<p>DeSantis too was an early advocate for vaccines. Yet, over the summer of 2020, his views changed. He went on to raise issues with the vaccines\u2019 safety and efficacy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight from the beginning, they said the mRNA shots would prevent you from getting the virus,\u201d DeSantis said on March 16, 2023, marking the third year since \u201c15 Days to Slow the Spread.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that is not true and especially not true with the booster jabs. It\u2019s just not true. It\u2019s not about public safety. They are pursuing an agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/guycocoa\/status\/1639093013774487552?s=20\">social media posts,<\/a> some blame Trump\u2019s vice president, Mike Pence, for COVID policy mistakes. Pence led a national COVID task force at Trump\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n<p>During the COVID crisis, both Pence and Trump relied heavily on guidance from two top U.S. health leaders, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).<\/p>\n<p>Both Birx and Fauci advocated lockdowns \u201cto slow the spread\u201d of the virus. They also touted vaccines as an effective weapon against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/giving-the-right-name-to-the-virus-causing-a-worldwide-%20pandemic-2_3277200.html\">the CCP virus<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, both remained in their positions through the end of Trump\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n<p>Jared Kushner\u2019s 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/the-reopening-racket_5163317.html\">memoir<\/a>\u00a0suggests Trump was pushing to relax pandemic restrictions behind the scenes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn April 15, Trump called me to the Oval Office and said that he wanted to end the COVID-19 lockdown and reopen the economy the following day,\u201d Kushner wrote, later adding that Fauci \u201cstrongly advised against a full reopening\u201d in an April 16 meeting with the commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, DeSantis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/desantis-would-have-fired-fauci-kind-of-likes-trumps-desanctimonious-nickname_5141847.html?utm_source=share-btn-copylink\">declared<\/a> to Piers Morgan, \u201cI would have fired somebody like Fauci.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5144248\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/03\/23\/GettyImages-1206846976_web-1200x806.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Then NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci pauses during a TV interview outside the White House in Washington on March 12, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>He said Fauci \u201cdid a lot of damage\u201d by insisting upon mask mandates, lockdowns, and business closures with insufficient evidence that the measures would prove effective.<\/p>\n<p>Crucially, it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/evidence-overwhelmingly-pointed-to-leak-from-wuhan-lab-from-day-one_5141744.html?ea_src=ai&#038;ea_med=search\">Fauci\u2019s NIAID<\/a> that supported EcoHealth Alliance, the non-governmental organization that funded bat coronavirus research at the WIV as well as gain-of-function researcher and WIV collaborator Ralph Baric.<\/p>\n<p>Both Trump and DeSantis reported that they were COVID-inoculated, and both also made it clear they opposed any vaccine mandates from Biden.<\/p>\n<h2>DeSantis\u2019 Early Response<\/h2>\n<p>The first Florida official to address the issue in an actionable setting was then-State Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, who told the Florida Senate Health Committee on Feb. 18, 2020, that the state had established protocols and procedures to contain the coronavirus, should there be an outbreak.<\/p>\n<p>At that point, there were no reported cases in the state. Worries centered on a potential influx of COVID-infected travelers from China.<\/p>\n<p>DeSantis\u2019s first executive action on COVID was<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flgov.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/orders\/2020\/EO_20-51.pdf\"> a March 1, 2020, directive<\/a> authorizing the Florida Department of Health to issue a Public Health Emergency, and the State Surgeon General and State Health Officer to declare that \u201ca Public Health Emergency exists in the State of Florida as a result of COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The executive order came after a month of uncertainty and growing fear, not just in Florida, but across the United States and the world.<\/p>\n<p>It would be followed by many more months, and even years, of uncertainty, not just about the disease, but about state, local, and federal authority in relation to COVID-related laws and guidelines\u2013challenges that, along with deep institutional hostility, also affected Trump.<\/p>\n<p>All those considerations colored the governor\u2019s actions as he pivoted from an aggressive early stance on COVID to one that distinguished him as a national leader in questioning lockdowns, vaccines, and other facets of the pandemic response.<\/p>\n<p>In his Feb. 18 comments to the Florida Senate Health Committee, Rivkees indicated that if \u201cpersons of interest\u201d\u2014people who had recently been in China\u2014were identified, the state wanted them to be tested, placed in home isolation, and monitored.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4991325\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/01\/17\/GettyImages-1245870788-1200x828.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Workers wearing protective suits and masks help Chinese travelers leaving the arrival hall after being tested for COVID-19 at Rome\u2019s Fiumicino International Airport, in Italy, on Dec. 29, 2022. (FILIPPO MONTEFORTE\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>During the earliest days of the outbreak, states across the country took precautionary measures. No one knew what COVID was, and worst-case scenarios abounded.<\/p>\n<p>Pandemic doomsaying was as or even more pronounced among conservatives than among liberals, particularly when Trump was an early, leading voice on the potential dangers of the novel coronavirus.<\/p>\n<p>As of Feb. 18, for example, the number of Chinese nationals moving through Florida\u2014visiting, on business or transiting airports\u2014had declined from 20,000 a day to less than 1,000 a day. That followed Trump\u2019s aforementioned executive order on noncitizen travel.<\/p>\n<p>On Feb. 21, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) joined Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) in co-sponsoring with several Democrats the \u201cPublic Health Emergency Response and Accountability Act,\u201d which aimed to ensure local public health officers\u2014then the heroes, soon the villains\u2014had the flexibility and funds to move quickly under emergency authority, should that become necessary.<\/p>\n<p>By March 9, with eight of the state\u2019s 67 counties reporting positive cases, DeSantis issued an<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flgov.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/orders\/2020\/EO_20-52.pdf\"> executive order<\/a> to \u201cactivate the State Emergency Operations Center to Level 2\u201d and give Florida\u2019s Division of Emergency Management (DEM) Director Jared Moskowitz\u2014a former state representative from Broward County and still the only Democrat appointed to his administration\u2014the authority to \u201csuspend the effect of any statute, rule, or order that would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay any mitigation, response or recovery action necessary to cope with this emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3529244\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2020\/10\/07\/et-fense--1200x770.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Boats are anchored nearby as signage indicates that the beach is temporarily closed in South Pointe park on July 04, 2020, in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach, Florida. In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Miami-Dade county has closed beaches from July 3-7 and imposed a curfew from from 10pm to 6am in preparation for the July 4th holiday weekend. (Cliff Hawkins\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>On March 16, President Trump issued his \u201c15 Days to Slow the Spread\u201d of COVID guidance. It \u201cadvised\u201d individuals and businesses to adopt social distancing measures such as working from home and closing many retailers and restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>As the federal response amped up over the following weeks, DeSantis too would go on to issue numerous COVID-related executive orders.<\/p>\n<p>On April 1, DeSantis declared an emergency statewide and issued<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flgov.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/orders\/2020\/EO_20-92.pdf\"> Executive Order 20-92<\/a>, shutting down \u201cnon-essential\u201d activity.<\/p>\n<p>It amounted to a statewide lockdown.<\/p>\n<h2>The Governor Evolves<\/h2>\n<p>As the weeks of lockdown wore on, DeSantis positioned himself as a leading skeptic of COVID edicts.<\/p>\n<p>That evolution would lead to pitched battles between DeSantis and a variety of COVID-ian foes, including federal agencies under the Biden administration. It would also launch DeSantis as a potential 2024 Republican presidential contender.<\/p>\n<p>Within a month of locking down, DeSantis was citing mounting data that mask mandates were not stopping the spread.<\/p>\n<p>He issued an<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flgov.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/orders\/2020\/EO_20-112.pdf\"> April 29 executive order<\/a> that permitted restaurants to reopen at 25 percent capacity indoors. Retail stores, museums, and liberties were also allowed to reopen at 25 percent capacity. But gyms and bars were prevented from selling alcoholic drinks \u201cfor on-premises consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By May 2020, DeSantis was touting evidence the virus did not pose as great a risk to children and adolescents as missing school did. He was also citing research confirming those who had caught COVID had developed antibodies that made them more resistant to the disease.<\/p>\n<p>The state was also among the first to reopen completely.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3761602\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/04\/04\/Florida-Governor-Ron-DeSantis-1200x869.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference about the opening of a COVID-19 vaccination site at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Jan. 6, 2021. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>The entire summer of 2020 DeSantis was openly critical of federal public health authorities.<\/p>\n<p>On March 16, 2023, as his state approached the three-year anniversary of his lockdown announcement, DeSantis said he made the controversial decision because he believed federal health agencies were following the data and science in developing policies to respond to the virus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are not going to let this state descend into a \u2018Faucian dystopia,&#8217;\u201d he said, adding that the experts \u201cgot it wrong\u201d for three years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] has whiffed on so many different things related to this. Now they put something out and you just dismiss it,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n<p>The targets of that criticism include the CDC\u2019s and Food and Drug Administration\u2019s refusal to recognize data analysis by Florida\u2019s Department of Health showing that the shots increase health risks for many and wane in effectiveness over time.<\/p>\n<h2>Florida Deliberately Struck Contrast With New York<\/h2>\n<p>While partisans on all sides are seeking to contrast DeSantis with Trump on COVID, fairer comparisons would juxtapose DeSantis with other governors, particularly those at the helm of comparable states.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, from the earliest days of the pandemic, DeSantis came into conflict with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3717113\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/03\/02\/cuomo-with-black-mask-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo talks to people after a press conference in New York City on Feb. 24, 2021. (Seth Wenig\/Pool\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>On March 3, the first two positive cases were reported in Florida, and the first DeSantis versus Cuomo clash surfaced. New York officials hadn\u2019t informed Florida\u2019s Department of Health that one of the two victims\u2014a 50-year-old attorney who has just returned to New York from Miami\u2014had been diagnosed with COVID and was allowed to travel.<\/p>\n<p>DeSantis said he spent much of that day in conference calls with nursing-home and assisted-living facility providers \u201cissuing guidance\u201d and ensuring that staff understood they \u201cshould not be having people entering those facilities who are exhibiting any types of symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More than 160,000 Floridians live in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, including 71,000 seniors in more than 700 nursing homes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve seen what\u2019s happened in Washington State,\u201d DeSantis said, adding that his state was \u201cgoing to continue to work with\u201d nursing home providers.<\/p>\n<p>His April 1 statewide lockdown order also targeted New York and Cuomo.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany thousands of people fled the New York City region to Florida \u2026 thereby jeopardizing the health and safety of Floridians,\u201d it stated.<\/p>\n<p>Under Cuomo, New York\u2019s Department of Health mandated that nursing homes accept patients who had tested positive for COVID. Thousands of them were admitted, leading to<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/03\/23\/ny-pols-mark-2-year-anniversary-of-cuomo-nursing-home-order\/\"> over 15,000 deaths<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In Florida, a May 2020 emergency rule required that hospitals test patients for the virus before releasing them into long-term care facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to that time, the Florida Department of Emergency Management had prohibited non-essential entry into such facilities through Emergency Order 20-006.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4311793\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/03\/02\/Ladapo-and-DeSantis-1-1200x747.png\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo (L) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the governor\u2019s office in Tallahassee on Feb. 24, 2022, in a still from vid<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In recent weeks, both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have touted their own handling of the COVID pandemic while criticizing each other\u2019s response to the crisis. It\u2019s only natural in the slow run-up to 2024. Everyone wants to be able to say they got COVID right\u2014and hindsight is always 20\/20. On<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1906,"featured_media":1908090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[23270,4127,4980,23271,3634],"class_list":["post-1908089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-converged","tag-covid","tag-desantis","tag-diverged","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1906"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1908089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1908090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1908089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1908089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1908089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}