Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Dismisses Monkeypox Threat: ‘We Are Not Doing Fear’

With a reported 6,617 cases of monkeypox in the United States, there is a growing concern over the danger of the new disease. Despite the increasing cases and public unease, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Florida) recently stated that he’s choosing not to sound the alarm on monkeypox.

“We are not doing fear,” DeSantis said. “And we are not going to go out and try to rile people up and try to act like people can’t live their lives as they’ve normally been doing because of something.”

DeSantis rose to national fame during the pandemic for his hands-off approach to handling the Covid-19 pandemic. The governor refused to enact lockdowns, causing a surge of cases and deaths, especially among the elderly.

Florida suffered massively during the pandemic, with the state becoming a hotspot for the virus. Currently, the state’s Covid-19 death count is over 77,700.

“I am so sick of politicians, and we saw this with COVID, trying to sow fear into the population,” DeSantis recalled. “We had people calling, mothers worried about whether their kids could catch it at schools.”

“You see some of these states declaring states of emergency. They’re going to abuse those emergency powers to restrict your freedom,” he added. “I guarantee you that’s what will happen.”