Exclusive — DeSantis Team Strikes Back After Biden Surrenders to More Mandates: ‘This Policy Could Actually Backfire’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) administration is striking back following news of the Biden administration surrendering to more Chinese coronavirus mandates — requiring vaccinated individuals to begin masking up in certain settings — contending the policy is “not based in science” and warning that it will likely backfire.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to update its current guidance, recommending individuals who are fully vaccinated to mask up in certain settings. The forthcoming policy sends a mixed signal to the nation, as public health officials have, for weeks, pitched vaccinations as the only way to return to a time of maskless, pre-pandemic normalcy. However, with the new guidance, it appears that is far from the case.

“It isn’t based in science. There is no indication that areas with mask mandates have performed any better than areas without mask mandates,” DeSantis’s office told Breitbart News in reaction to the president’s unconditional surrender to the coronavirus by retreating on the mask guidance from the CDC.

“In fact, this policy could actually backfire. Mandating masks for vaccinated people erodes public trust and confidence in the effectiveness of the vaccines. To me it appears that the government wants to be perceived as doing something during a seasonal infection surge, even if their policy does not necessarily make people safer,” DeSantis’s press secretary Christina Pushaw told Breitbart News, also criticizing the federal officials who seek to mask children in schools.

Previously, the CDC recommended unvaccinated children returning to school to wear masks. But now, the CDC is expected to modify its guidance, recommending everyone to mask up in school, regardless of vaccination status.

“Masking children can cause serious physical, developmental, and emotional issues,” she added. “There is no medical reason to mandate masks on children. In Florida, it will be the parent’s choice.”

DeSantis has come under constant criticism from the establishment media for continuing to prioritize personal liberty throughout the pandemic. He received a wave of heavy criticism after reopening Florida long before blue state governors dared to lift their own draconian restrictions, and most notably, DeSantis never issued a statewide mask mandate. All the while, at the height of the pandemic, Florida continued to report fewer new cases of the virus per capita — and in some instances, in sheer volume — than pro-mask blue states such as New York and Michigan, despite the absence of mask mandates.

Last week, DeSantis reiterated that his administration will not mandate schools to require children to wear masks and repeated that vow during a roundtable discussion with health experts on Monday.

“And basically going forward, we believe that parents can make decisions about their, their child’s health and safety which is why we think that parents can make the decision about whether the kids should be wearing masks in school,” DeSantis said, noting that there was virtually no difference in infection rates in schools that implemented drastic mitigation strategies compared to those that did not.

Despite that, the White House has continued to send mixed messages on vaccines and masks, yet it has remained uncannily consistent in criticizing pro-freedom governors who refuse to bend to their pandemic whims, using fear as a means of government coercion.

“If I were a parent in Florida, that would be greatly concerning to me,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week of the governor’s refusal to force children to wear masks in school.

“I will say my kids are quite adjusted to them, as I know many kids are,” she added.

Psaki was unable to explain how the upcoming guidance makes sense, as it effectively undermines the administration’s vaccination narrative.

“If vaccines work…then why do people who have the vaccine need to now wear masks?” Peter Doocy asked her during Tuesday’s briefing.

“The public health leaders in our administration have made the determination, based on data, that that is a way to make sure they’re protected,” she responded, failing to offer a viable answer to the question.