Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday said the Biden administration’s forthcoming Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule imposing vaccine mandates on private employers will be “challenged immediately,” and he predicted it is “going down.”
Speaking at a press conference in Lakeland, Florida, where he and Attorney General Ashley Moody announced their lawsuit against President Biden, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, NASA, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and General Services Administration (GSA) over the federal contractor vaccine mandate, DeSantis made it clear that his administration will challenge the OSHA rule, which has yet to be issued.
“Now we haven’t had the OSHA rule yet, that’s going to be challenged immediately. That OSHA rule’s going down. That is not going to be able to stand and so I’m confident of that,” he said, ultimately stating that his focus is “making sure people are treated well.”
“The thing that really, really irks me if you look and you act like these mandates are somehow scientific-based, I don’t think anything that Biden has asked for or is demanding recognizes immunity” obtained through “prior infection,” DeSantis continued:
And we know that is robust protection for people. So if you think about it, there’s a lot of folks, particularly these first responders and others, who have been out and about — many of them have recovered fro COVID and so they have protection. And they’re in a situation where they look at — ok what’s the benefit at this point and maybe there is some, but then they weigh that and make a decision. So to not recognize that I think is a huge huge problem. That’s something that absolutely should be something that is recognized and it will be, but at the end of the day, if we act, I think if we act in November which is what we’re doing, I do think it’s going to make a difference from a time perspective.
“But at the end of the day, no coercion. Just, people should be able to make informed decisions,” the governor continued.
DeSantis said, adding that he is concerned about the potential impact this will have on other vaccines:
The more you try to browbeat people, the more you try to use the heavy hand of government or even if it’s just corporate power, it creates — it’s bad for freedom, it’s bad for the constitutional system, it’s bad for the economy — but it then creates I think a lingering resentment
I guarantee you’ll see in decline in that, because you’re creating a lot of distrust. I think you’re creating a lot of people who are looking at these people that have been on TV for a year and a half and they ain’t told the truth, and that is going to have a lasting impact.
Ultimately, the Republican governor said Florida is “fighting back” against the Biden administration’s intrusion and promised to “work like hell” to make sure jobs are preserved in the Sunshine State.