Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Tuesday blasted the mask hypocrisy of the elites, concluding that they are almost creating a “two-tiered society” with a “servant class that has to always do all this, but yet the other class, they can lecture you about wearing masks, but then they don’t wear masks themselves.”
The Florida Republican, who never once implemented a statewide mask mandate across the Sunshine State, took a shot at elites who often forgo a mask yet continue to press the general public to wear one.
“What I see is, you’ll see entertainment venues, top hotels, they’ll be big events. You’ll have like a charity event and there will be like 500 people eating, drinking, having a good time, which I support 100 percent, no masks or anything. Great,” DeSantis began. But, he asked, concluding that the elites are attempting to create a “two-tiered” society where rules apply to everyone but themselves:
But they make the staff all wear masks. And I’m just thinking to myself, hold on. You’re in a packed ballroom with 500 people and they’re not wearing masks — and first of all they shouldn’t be — that’s fine. But is it really going to make a difference to have 15 waiters wearing masks?
“And I think it’s like a two-tiered society. They’re trying to have a servant class that has to always do all this, but yet the other class, they can lecture you about wearing masks, but then they don’t wear masks themselves. That’s wrong,” he said to applause. “That’s wrong.”
DeSantis reminded the press that there are no requirements in Florida mandating any workers wear masks and that all instances of such are done by private businesses.
“And I think the reason private business does it is because …. they know if they have the servers without it, they may get that one customer who’s so upset and will complain and they don’t want to deal with that,” he said.
“But I think it’s time we stop letting them, one person, veto what’s right,” he continued, noting that Florida has “never arguably done better in hospitality than we’ve been doing lately because people know they come to Florida to vacation [and] they’re going to be treated with respect and [as] free people.”
“They’re not going to have to show medical papers to get a beer. They’re not going to have to do that to go get lunch,” he said, urging leaders in private industry to “let your employees, let these folks breathe.”
“Let them make their own decisions on this, because I think it’s terribly uncomfortable that they’re in this for so many hours a day, and I don’t think it’s been proven to make a difference,” he said.
“But I certainly think if you have 500 people in a ballroom, to force a handful [of] the service staff to have to do that, that’s not based in science. That’s just more for show,” he added, once again knocking the elites and their mask hypocrisy, which has been on full display throughout the pandemic — from San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to President Biden himself.
Most recently, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D), who implemented an outdoor mask mandate in her state from August to November, attended a gala in Washington, DC, where she was spotted without a mask. Meanwhile, Oregon health officials are looking to establish a more “permanent set” of rules for masking.
“I feel bad for the employees, and I think it’s wrong that somehow, you know, to look down on somebody or act like they should have to abide by different rules than me or you or any anybody else,” DeSantis added, expressing hope that “We can all move forward where everybody has the ability to exercise those free choices.”