Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was at his wife’s side as Casey DeSantis, 41, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year and underwent treatment Thursday.
Critics slammed DeSantis as being “missing” that same day his state was dealing with an increase in coronavirus cases.
Jerry Demings, the Democratic mayor of Orange County, also criticized DeSantis, adding that Florida residents “should be outraged” with DeSantis not being seen publicly as coronavirus cases spiked, the New York Post reported.
“And they should ask the question, ‘Now, where’s our state? Where’s our governor?'” Demings said. “Where is Ron DeSantis now? When was the last time you saw the governor do a press briefing regarding COVID-19?”
Other critics, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., also accused him of being “inexplicably missing.”
“Hasn’t Gov. DeSantis been inexplicably missing for like 2 weeks,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet during a visit to Florida. “If he’s around, I would be happy to say hello. His social media team seems to have been posting old photos for weeks.”
“In the meantime, perhaps I could help with local organizing,” said Ocasio-Cortez, who was pictured without a mask while dining outside in Miami. “Folks are quite receptive here.”
MSNBC host Joy Reid also made comments, tweeting, “A governor, not governing during a crisis; and sunning his belly on vacation instead. @GovRonDeSantis is the Nero of Ted Cruzes.”
DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw defended him with a tweet back at Reid, attaching photos of the governor’s daily schedule, asking, “Have you ever considered that you’re one of the reasons nobody trusts the media?”
DeSantis communications staffer Kyle Lamb came to his defense on Twitter. She wrote, “Just FYI, [DeSantis] is not on vacation. Literally, no one from our office has said that he is.”
“Anyone pushing that could have easily seen the public schedule and seen that he’s taking calls and meetings this past week,” Lamb said. “Not having public events does not = ‘vacation.'”
