DeSantis: I Didn’t Shut Down FL, I Left Beach Decisions to Locals and Followed Some Fed Guidelines for ‘First Few Weeks’

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” 2024 Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) responded to claims by fellow 2024 GOP candidate former President Donald Trump that he shut down Florida during the coronavirus pandemic by stating that he didn’t shut Florida down, he left decisions on beaches to local governments in April 2020, and “those first few weeks, we followed some of the federal guidelines. I’ve always said that. But then, I was looking at the data myself, and I made the decision that we were going to chart a separate course.”

Co-host Bill Hemmer said, “He’s making claims that Florida had the third-highest death rate in America. He says you shut down Florida…you had vax lines.”

DeSantis cut in after Hemmer mentioned the criticisms of Florida’s death rate and allegations the state was shut down to say, “That’s total nonsense.”

Hemmer continued, “Now, on April 1 of 2020, just to be clear, you did allow the local authorities to determine who goes on a beach and who doesn’t. And I think the rule you made that day was to limit it to ten people or less. Do you disagree with any of that?”

DeSantis responded, “So, right, so, that was a local decision. But, those first few weeks, we followed some of the federal guidelines. I’ve always said that. But then, I was looking at the data myself, and I made the decision that we were going to chart a separate course. And so, we did that. And clearly, Florida boomed as a result.”

After turning to how Trump handled Fauci, DeSantis continued, “And clearly, I think the important thing is this: Looking forward, we need accountability for what went wrong, because those people in positions of authority at the CDC, Fauci, they lied about lockdowns, school closures, mask mandates. They were wrong. It did a lot of damage around this country.”

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