MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Maskless Florida Gov Ron DeSantis high-fives Trump fans then rubs nose, Internet calls it 'clueless stupidity'

Before DeSantis was seen making physical contact with the crowd in a video, photos from the 'superspreader' showed attendees without face-covering or practicing social distancing

SANFORD, FLORIDA: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was seen without a mask high-fiving numerous supporters of President Donald Trump at the rally the POTUS held in Sanford, Florida, on Monday, 11 days after getting diagnosed with COVID-19. Seconds later he was seen rubbing his nose with the same hand. 

Even before DeSantis was recorded in a video posted by activists making physical contact with the crowd amid a raging pandemic, photos of the rally shared online showed most of the attendees without any form of face-covering or practicing social distancing. “DeSantis has arrived maskless at Superspreader event giving high fives before ending with nose rub-pick," an activist captioned the video. 

Needless to say, he faced strong criticism for his behavior, which effectively violated the CDC guidelines for coronavirus prevention, from the world of social media. "This is a big F-U to all the people who have been staying home, wearing masks, social distancing, barely socializing, and trying to keep their lives afloat in this destroyed economy," one said, while another wrote, "On a purely shallow snarky note - is it my monitor or has he gained a lot of weight since becoming governor." A third commented, "Would you prefer his rub/picked his nose BEFORE he high-fived everyone?"

There was also one user who opined, "He was high-fiving people with his right hand. His right hand was used to touch his nose. I really don't understand. I wish somebody could explain this level of clueless stupidity to me. I really do." Another remarked, "The worst governor in Florida’s recent history. And our last one was Rick Scott, so that’s saying something." And one more said, "Governor Smails strikes again."

There were a number of Florida residents who were irked by the behavior demonstrated by the governor of their state, especially since they had been taking all the necessary measures to ensure that they remained infection-free. "Of course he did. My little Floridian children have seen almost no one and wear masks because they want to do their part, yet this is happening 30 mins from our house. Infuriating," one wrote, while another said, "My family won’t be going to FL to vacation for the winter this year because of DeSantis. I wonder how many other snowbirds will be staying home in an attempt to stay safe from his covid policy failures." Someone else commented, "After all the months I have sacrificed to do the right thing and my governor and fake president just spit in my face"

Not unlike Trump, DeSantis has been happily downplaying the impact of the pandemic. He told Fox News over the weekend, “So if you look now, Florida’s open for business. We have everything — like theme parks, all that have been open for months. And we have kids in school in person. Parents have the option to opt for virtual [learning] if they want, but they have the in-person [option], which is very, very important.” This was following his controversial move last month to effectively lift all pandemic lockdown restrictions just a day after his state recorded the highest daily death rate in the country.