Ron DeSantis Praises Florida Employment During Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the famed Texas-based gas station Buc-ees, which opened a location in Daytona Beach, and used the opportunity to showcase that Florida remains open, continuing to reject blue state lockdown measures despite pressure from establishment media and Democrats.

“If you look around the country, you have businesses closing in a lot of these states,” DeSantis said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Buc-ees, which is largely known for its mass array of fueling positions, wide selection of apparel and home decor, distinct culinary options — including brisket, sliced sausage, a beef jerky bar — and of course, the famed Beaver mascot. “Florida, we have businesses opening. New businesses opening.”

DeSantis noted Florida’s unemployment rate is 4.8 percent, under the national average of 6.3 percent.

“If you look at some of these lockdown states they’re eight and nine percent,” DeSantis observed.

“If we had nine percent or ten percent unemployment in this state, can you imagine how many lives would be destroyed with that if you had locked everybody down and destroyed all these businesses and cost all these jobs?” DeSantis asked.

While it is true Florida is faring better statistically, DeSantis said it is really a “reflection of hundreds of thousands of livelihoods that have been protected.”

“We’ve helped save thousands of businesses. We’re one of the few states where people are actually opening new restaurants, hotels, and then here in Buc-ees, even though we had the pandemic hit, you know they were full speed ahead, and I think the results are going to speak for themselves,” he said before referencing the recently opened Buc-ees location in St. Augustine, Florida, which he identified as the “number two performing store in the country.”

“We’re excited about the progress. I think this is symbolic of a state. People want to be in Florida. They’re leaving a lot of these failed states to come here,” he added.

Watch: