For much of the latter part of December, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been slammed for being missing in action as the state reels from a surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the omicron variant. Well, late on Friday, DeSantis tried to defend himself. He claimed that he was accompanying his wife, Casey, to a cancer treatment session.
But later on Friday, DeSantis attended an event sponsored by a Christianist worship leader whose events have been linked to numerous superspreaders. Never mind that his wife is presently at really high risk for COVID-19, even if she’s vaccinated.
In response to criticism from state and national Democrats about his apparent absence in the wake of record-breaking case counts in Florida, DeSantis—through his spokesmen—said that at the time, he was with his wife while she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
A DeSantis spokesperson said the governor accompanied wife Casey to cancer treatment Dec. 29, the day several left-wing critics accused the governor of "missing."
DeSantis' announced in October that his wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer, telling Fox News at the time that as "the mother of three young children, Casey is the centerpiece of our family and has made an impact on the lives of countless Floridians through her initiatives as first lady."
But later on Friday, Tampa NBC affiliate WFLA revealed that DeSantis was going to be on hand for the Orange Bowl that night—his first public appearance in two weeks. Before that night, he’d only been seen in public twice in the latter half of December—a press conference on Dec. 17, and an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Dec. 19.
That was problematic in and of itself, considering that as a cancer patient, Casey DeSantis is at particularly high risk for breaking bad if she catches COVID. But what DeSantis did next is particularly incomprehensible. It turned out that when DeSantis left Hard Rock Stadium, he and Casey headed over to Lifted Church (formerly Miami Baptist Church), where Christianist worship leader Sean Feucht was holding one of his “Let Us Worship” events.
Watch a recap here, from Feucht:
At that event, Feucht presented DeSantis with a “Defender of Freedom” award for not joining in with the “tyrannical governors and leaders” who imposed mask mandates, gathering limits, stay-at-home orders, etc. during 2021. He also led the crowd in praying for Casey’s healing.
DeSantis, for his part, was overjoyed by it.
Um, Ron? You don’t seem to care that you’re putting your wife in grave danger by not only going to a football game, but then going to a concert even though she has cancer and can’t form a proper immune response even if vaccinated. No man with any kind of love for his wife would do this. If DeSantis doesn’t care about his own wife’s safety, is it any wonder that he doesn’t care about the safety of the people of his state? His nickname of “DeathSantis” is well deserved.
By showing up to a state that is experiencing one of the worst COVID outbreaks in the country, Feucht announced in capital letters that he literally does not care if people get sick from attending one of his events. But then again, we knew that already. After all, Feucht got the bright idea to hold a “Let Us Worship” event near Nashville in the midst of a massive delta-fueled surge in Tennessee, and after a previous event in Nashville itself was linked to over 250 COVID cases.
Feucht is getting raked over the coals on Twitter—but doesn’t seem to understand what the fuss is about.
Let me explain it nice and slow, Sean. You came to a state that is getting crushed by a COVID surge, after having a past history of not caring that your events lead to outbreaks. And you don’t seem to care that a high-profile audience member is at extremely high risk for catching this virus, even if vaccinated. And you don’t understand why you’re getting slammed for it? Come off it.
I would wonder if Feucht and DeSantis have any shame. But it has been amply established that these gentlemen—a term that, in their case, applies in its loosest possible sense—have none.