Ariana Baio
Mar 02, 2022
Video
If there's one thing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis hates, it's masks. Once again, the governor made his stance on them clear by asking a group of high schoolers to remove their face coverings before giving a speech on Wednesday.
The high school students were meant to stand behind DeSantis as he gave a short press conference but before starting, DeSantis addressed the students saying, "you do not have to wear those masks, I mean please take them off. Honestly, it's not doing anything and we gotta stop with this Covid theatre."
The students awkwardly chuckled before DeSantis continued, "So if you wanna wear it, fine. But this is ridiculous." Only a few of the high schoolers proceeded to remove their masks.
The video of DeSantis went viral on Twitter, racking up over a million views in the first hour.
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The group of students stood behind DeSantis while the governor made an appearance at the University of South Florida to discuss a $20 million cybersecurity education plan during the news conference. The governor also touched on the Ukraine-Russia crisis and President Biden.
But any news DeSantis delivered was outshined by his earlier moment which generated buzz on social media.
"Not sure how it affects him if they decide to wear it. It's the personal choice of the individual to wear a mask or not," Twitter user @LsVzqz tweeted.
"Do rights only apply to what Ron wants? What happened to make your own personal decision? Florida, how do you stand him?" @concernedcsi said.
DeSantis is notorious for his anti-mask stance. Last year, the Florida governor said he would pardon those who did not wear a mask.
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