Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) dismissed growing fears about monkeypox during a news conference Wednesday, saying the media and politicians were unnecessarily fueling fear of the disease.
“I’m so sick of politicians, and we’ve seen that with COVID, trying to instill fear in the population,” the Republican governor said. “We had people calling, mothers worried about whether their kids could catch it at school.”
“We are not creating fear,” he added. “And we’re not going to go out and try to piss people off and try to act like people can’t live their lives as normal because of something.”
DeSantis, who has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s response to COVID-19, has also criticized states imposing emergency measures on monkeypox.
“You see some of these states declaring states of emergency. They will abuse these extraordinary powers to limit your freedom. I guarantee you it will happen,” DeSantis said.
New York Gov. Cathy Hochul (D) declared a state of emergency last weekend because of the outbreak. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, both Democrats, also declared states of emergency over the virus on Monday.
Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), who is running against DeSantis in Florida’s gubernatorial race, criticized the governor’s comments on Twitter.
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“While Governor DeSantis dismisses monkeypox, at-risk Floridians still need better information, better testing and access to prevention vaccines,” Crist wrote.
The governor’s comments come after 525 cases of monkeypox have been reported in Florida, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are 6,617 confirmed cases in the US as of Wednesday.
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