Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republicans lashed out at the Biden Administration over seeking possible travel bans to “counter” new strains of COVID-19 from spreading nationwide. He called the travel ban ‘unconstitutional’ and said considering new travel restrictions to areas, including Florida, would be an attack on their state, done purely for political purposes. The White House also said they’d consider domestic travel restrictions as new variants identified in the United Kingdom “continue to surge.”
“We will oppose it 100-percent. It would not be based on science. It would purely be a political attack against the people of Florida. And it’s unclear why they would even try talking about that,” DeSantis said.
The Florida Republican tweeted how outrageous the White House was for trying to “counter new strains of COVID-19” by restricting the rights of Americans to travel freely through our country. He pointed out how the Biden Administration will try to impose such harsh travel restrictions while still allowing illegal aliens to pour across the southern border untested.
U.S Sen. Marco Rubio even wrote to President Biden that the travel restriction was an “outrageous, authoritarian move that has no basis in law or science.” He said it only serves to devastate the already damaged economy. Florida relies heavily on tourism and stopping any sort of interstate travel could have vast repercussions. “If you are concerned about the coronavirus spread in Florida, I urge you to fast-track additional vaccines to the state instead of attempting to cripple our economy,” he said.
Sen. Rubio also pointed out President Biden’s hypocrisy since he’d previously accused Trump of “hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering” a day after the former president had issued the COVID-19 travel ban on China. Biden claimed for months that banning travel from any part of the world “will not stop” coronavirus.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked during a press briefing about the administration’s consideration of a Florida travel ban. She said that they are always considering what steps will keep the American people safe, but that no decisions have been made around delaying or changing domestic travel considerations.
The Florida governor also pointed out that 1.6 million seniors, about 35% of the senior population, have received a COVID-19 vaccine shot already. He talked about how the overall COVID-19 situation has decreased in the sunshine state compared to the rest of the nation.
“Over the winter, Florida peaked at much less level than we did over the summer months and we were way less per capita than a lot of locked down states that are always cited as being ‘the right way to do it,’” Gov. DeSantis said.
Democrats never let a disaster go to waste. You’ve got to wonder what next event will allow the federal government to declare emergency power over nearly every freedom the American people possess. Guns, free speech, travel, what’s next?
