(CNN) Gov. Ron DeSantis has a new message to Dr. Anthony Fauci for Republicans to spread across Florida’s beaches.
“Fauci Can Pound Sand,” it says on the soles of sandals now available for purchase on DeSantis’ campaign website.
While shopping, DeSantis supporters can also buy “Don’t Fauci My Florida” beer koozies.
In the absence of a clear political opponent at the onset of his campaign for reelection, DeSantis seems to have created one out of the Biden chief medical adviser.
Beyond campaign merchandise and fundraising pitches, Fauci figures prominently in most of DeSantis’ public remarks.
“For DeSantis, Fauci is a convenient shorthand for the pandemic mitigation measures that he has fought against as governor, such as masks, vaccine mandates and managed shutdowns.”
Restaurants were left to “wither on the vine” because of Fauci, DeSantis said to students at a state college in January.
Fauci shouldn’t have trusted the Chinese’s coronavirus data, DeSantis recently told a conservative podcast. “We choose freedom over Fauci,” he asserted to business leaders in November.
DeSantis has turned Fauci into an adjective (“Faucian dystopia”) and a political doctrine (“Faucism”).
DeSantis has gained more attention than perhaps any Republican leader in the country by flouting the scientific community’s advice and keeping Florida open, earning him a spot atop the list of future GOP presidential contenders.
As he runs for a second term, DeSantis has only intensified his resolve against coronavirus-related restrictions and, by extension, the country’s top infectious disease expert, going so far as to suggest that Fauci should be prosecuted for allegedly lying to Congress.
US Rep. Charlie Crist, who is running in the Democratic primary to challenge DeSantis in November, said the treatment of Fauci was “beneath the office of the governor.”
“I think it’s pretty sad to be candid,” Crist said … READ MORE.
