Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Is Getting Torched For Releasing Anti-Dr. Fauci Merch As COVID Cases In His State Surge

Historians will have a field day with our time for too many reasons to count, but one thing that will particularly mystify them is the large number who turned on one of the people who did his best to keep people alive during a once-in-a-century public health crisis. That person is Dr. Anthony Fauci, longtime immunologist and, inexplicably, demon to the GOP. Among his bewildering number of haters is Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida and Trump wannabe, who decided to try to profit off the people whose lives he endangers with merchandise targeting the man who did his best to ensure the pandemic hasn’t gone even worse.

On Wednesday, the governor made an announcement. No, it wasn’t about the renewed surge in COVID cases in his state. It was about a new line of merch bearing the words “Don’t Fauci Florida.” T-shirts. Baseball hats. Flags. Koozies. DeSantis’ verbing of Dr. Fauci’s name wasn’t meant as complimentary, but perhaps it should be. “Fauci,” one could say, could mean to save lives, not doom them to preventable deaths.

The merch was presumably directed at those who haven’t been vaccinated, and who comprise the lion’s share of new COVID cases and related deaths. And when it went public, and as places like Fox News delighted in how triggered it made people who don’t want more mass death, people on social media were quick to try and remind him of the grim numbers in the state DeSantis governs.

https://twitter.com/RemoveRon/status/1415444866339938305

Some found it disrespectful of the over 600,000 who’ve died of the virus in the U.S. alone.

Some did not mince words when describing DeSantis and those who listen to him.

And some turned the tables on him.

https://twitter.com/RexHuppke/status/1415372703876456452

But maybe Isiah Whitlock Jr., of The Wire and Spike Lee joints, had the most appropriate response.