Perhaps no Republican political figure in the country right now is more similar to failed, one-term former President Donald Trump than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
You might think that would give DeSantis a leg up on his GOP counterparts, but it doesn’t, because the DeSantis has let the same issue that led to the downfall of his political idol — mishandling the COVID pandemic — send his own favorability ratings into a chasm which gets deeper with each day and every death from the deadly virus.
Former Democratic National Committee chairman and Vermont governor Howard Dean — who also happens to be a medical doctor — says DeSantis is worse than Trump, and he explained his rationale Friday on MSNBC, telling host Ari Melber:
“I am shocked by DeSantis. I never thought I would say this but I think he may be more of a lunatic than Trump ever was. Trump finally come around thinking the best thing he can do for his supporters is get them vaccinated. And DeSantis is completely out of touch with reality. I am not sure what he could possibly be thinking now when you got more than half the population that’s in school districts refusing to comply, long before the court said it was okay, more than half of the people in Florida’s school districts said no. We don’t care, shut up and go away. This guy is not – if you are the governor, you can’t do that.”
Dean then added:
“This guy’s not competent to serve in any capacity.
“This guy is putting their children’s lives at risk. We’re going to have dead kids all over Florida in these districts that are following DeSantis. It is outrageous. I have never seen any governor of either party ever behave like this. It’s almost as if he doesn’t give a damn who has to die as long as he gets reelected.”
Ron DeSantis is running for reelection in 2022, and the latest polls in Florida show he’s incredibly unpopular. If thousands of children die of COVID on his watch, don’t be surprised if he gets kicked to the curb by voters in the Sunshine State.
