Are they lying?
Following statements made by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, claiming Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was “not exactly advocating” for people to get vaccinated, DeSantis refuted these claims.
On Wednesday (January 5th), Psaki, in response to a question about remarks DeSantis’ had made about the Biden administration’s ineptitude when it comes to testing, responded by saying the governor’s remarks were “pretty rich.”
The governor made his statements as he announced that Florida would be delivering one million tests to seniors in the state, while the Biden administration was still awaiting tests to be delivered.
But, in an effort to downplay the significance of DeSantis Biden call-out, the White House Press Secretary said, “it’s pretty rich coming from Gov. DeSantis, given he has been advocating –– not exactly advocating –– for people in his state to get vaccinated, which we know is the way that people can be protected.”
Psaki continued by saying that if DeSantis wanted to be part “of this constructive process,” he should be encouraging “what science says is the best way to save lives” and reduce hospitalizations, pointing to vaccination and booster doses.
However, her statements can easily be disproven, as the Florida Governor has repeatedly voiced his support for the vaccine, saying that it could save lives.
One such instance was in July, during the Delta variant surge when DeSantis encouraged Floridians to get vaccinated. At the time, the governor said, “if you look at the people that are being admitted to hospitals … over 95% of them are either not fully vaccinated or not vaccinated at all.” He added that the vaccines were “saving lives” and “reducing mortality.”
Responding to Psaki’s comments on Fox News, Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’ press secretary, called out the White House press secretary for telling “bald-faced lies about Governor DeSantis with the utmost confidence because she knows the corporate media will never fact check her.”
She then pointed to DeSantis advocating for “vaccines from the day they became available for the most vulnerable,” adding that his efforts were so effective they elicited a “hit piece” by “60 minutes” where they criticized the governor prioritizing seniors.
