Where is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis?
The question has been on minds across the state and the country since Orange County, Fla., Mayor Jerry Demings Tuesday said the governor has been missing-in-action during the recent omicron-variant fueled wave of COVID-19.
By Friday morning, the #WhereIsRon hashtag had been used more than 20,000 times on Twitter.
“All Florida residents should be outraged and they should ask the question now, ‘where is our state, where is our governor,’” Demings said during a press conference updating Orange County residents about the local coronavirus response. He also said the state has not supported local needs for testing as well as other COVID-19 mitigation needs.
Throughout the pandemic, DeSantis has been critical of mask and vaccination mandates, even though both masking and vaccinations are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the most recent report from the Florida Department of Health, COVID-19 cases are rising in the state. On Thursday 58,013 new cases were reported, a new daily record and from Dec. 17 to Dec. 23, new case positivity in Orange County was 13.7 percent.
With two large NCAA bowl games scheduled this week, Demings expects even more local cases to pop up.
Following Deming’s comments on Tuesday, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried, a Democrat who is seeking to become the Democratic nominee against DeSantis in the November 2022 election, said “our governor is absent” in a tweet.
She also told MSNBC this week that she has “no idea” where the governor is.
Fried said she hasn’t seen DeSantis since Dec. 17 and that he canceled a cabinet meeting in mid-December.
Social media response continues to grow and DeSantis has so far remained silent on the issue.
He has, however, posted three times on Twitter since Demings’ press conference: once to share a video about protecting water resources, once to share a photo of a Florida bagel shop and once Friday morning to post a video about Friday night football.
According to Newsweek, the bagel shop photo was taken Dec. 17.
Other photos of DeSantis posted from the PatriotTakes Twitter page that appear to be from a Dec. 20 holiday gathering have fueled speculation about his whereabouts on social media, said the outlet. It is unclear if the photos are legitimate.
The last news release referencing an action by DeSantis on his official website is a Dec. 22 announcement that he had appointed 14 people to the state’s Faith-Based and Community-Based Advisory Council.
