Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been accused of reopening his state’s economy too quickly, accused fellow governors of acting as “dictators” in their implementation of “draconian” lockdowns.
“You’re not a dictator, you don’t have unlimited authority, and people do have rights,” DeSantis said Thursday in an interview with “Fox & Friends.”
He was asked if he thought “some of these governors that are just doing a one-size-fits-all for the entire state” are “being too strict and going too far.”
“I don’t think any governor has the authority to restrict anyone unless there’s a direct relationship to combating this virus,” DeSantis replied.
The governor said that across the country, “clearly there have been examples of really draconian, arbitrary restrictions that have nothing to do with public health, like you can’t plant a seed in your front yard in your garden, you can’t walk around the neighborhood with your daughter or something like that.”
“Some of this stuff I think has devolved into social control. I think absolutely it’s gotten out of hand,” he said.
DeSantis said Florida has taken “reasonable” steps.
“We trusted the people to act appropriately and we’ve had better results than some of the states that you’ve seen,” he said.
Currently, Florida has recorded more than 42,000 coronavirus cases and 1,800 deaths. Nationwide, more than 1.4 million infections and 86,000 deaths have been recorded.
DeSantis has allowed golf courses to remain open and has not banned boating. On May 4, in the first of a three-stage plan, he allowed restaurants, libraries and museums to reopen at 25% capacity. Some beaches were also allowed to reopen.
Four days later, barber shops and salons were allowed to reopen in the state, except for southern Florida.
He said later Thursday he’s signed off on plans for Miami-Dade and Broward counties to reopen restaurants and other “non-essential” businesses.
Phase 2 will allow retail businesses, gyms, personal service businesses and restaurants to operate at 75% capacity.
Phase 3 is full capacity, with the requirement that strict sanitation practices be maintained.
In the interview with “Fox & Friends,” he defended his controversial decision to open beaches, arguing the coronavirus is less transmissible in the open air.
“There just aren’t massive outbreaks that have been linked to a lot of outdoor activity, and so that’s why I got a lot of flack from the Acela (establishment) media because I didn’t want to close every beach in Florida,” he said.
He argued that coastal counties such as Brevard have a very low death rate.
“And so I believe outdoor activity is low risk,” he said.
“When you have the opportunity to be in good weather, you’re going to be less likely to be in those enclosed environments, which is really, I think, where we’ve seen this virus really spread like wildfire.”
See the interview: