DeSantis for months has railed against protective face coverings and other Covid-19 restrictions, including mandatory vaccinations and vaccine passports. During the height of the Delta Covid-19 variant surge in the state, the Republican governor prohibited Florida’s schools from implementing mandatory mask-wearing for students and staff, leading to a protracted battle with some of the state’s largest school districts and the Biden administration over the issue.
Democrats challenging DeSantis in November’s gubernatorial election were quick to seize on the Republican governor’s remarks, calling him “heartless” and a bully.
“Young people in our state deserve to be treated with respect, not dunked on by a heartless, egotistical Governor with a political agenda,” Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), who is leaving Congress to run for governor, wrote in a tweet.
Another Democratic candidate, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, posted on Twitter: “You can judge someone’s character by how they treat waiters. And high school students.”
“Shame on [DeSantis],” Fried tweeted.
The DeSantis administration did not release any masking guidance to USF or students ahead of the event, press secretary Christina Pushaw said in a statement.
The comments, Pushaw wrote, were intended to ensure that Floridians, and “especially young people, many of whom have been unduly pressured and coerced by schools and employers to wear masks — are informed about the lack of evidence for masks.”
“If hundreds of politicians (including high risk seniors) can congregate without masks at the State of the Union, then young people should feel safe going mask free,” Pushaw wrote in a statement.
School officials in Hillsborough said they were “excited” to see students from local Middleton High School featured in the event surrounding a $20 million program to bolster cybersecurity studies in the state.
“It is a student and parent’s choice to protect their health in a way they feel most appropriate,” Addison Davis, Hillsborough County Public Schools superintendent, wrote in a statement. “We are proud of the manner in which our students represented themselves and our school district.”