Florida Governor Ron DeSantis answered questions during a press conference on Jan. 4. | Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel via AP
TALLAHASSEE – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday attacked the Biden administration, promising that the state would strongly and quickly oppose any attempt to stop Americans from traveling to the Sunshine State.
DeSantis’ comments were in response to a Wednesday story by McClatchy that quoted an unidentified White House official as saying that the government was considering imposing restrictions on domestic travel, including in Florida, to contain the broadcast of a new variant of the Covid-19 that is spreading rapidly across the state.
DeSantis, a Republican, called the consideration of travel restrictions “absurd” and a “political attack on the people of Florida”. He said it would be “ridiculous” to impose restrictions on domestic travel while relaxing restrictions on the US-Mexico border.
“Any attempt to restrict or block Florida by the federal government would be an attack on our state, done solely for political purposes,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Port Charlotte, Florida. he also questioned the need for any kind of restriction given Florida’s intermediate rating in terms of Covid-19 fatalities.
The governor added: “I think it would be unconstitutional, it would be unreasonable and it would be unfair”.
DeSantis’ The office declined to comment immediately after the news conference on whether they had any discussions with anyone in the Biden administration about possible travel restrictions.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki addressed the idea of domestic travel considerations in a briefing after DeSantis spoke.
“We are always considering what measures are needed to keep the American people safe, but we are not in the process of, no decision has been made on additional public health measures that would delay or change, I must say, domestic travel considerations,” said Psaki.
Any kind of travel restriction can hurt Florida’s economy, which depends heavily on tourists. The initial wave of blockades last spring sent the state’s tax collection spiraling. Florida would have been hit by a serious budget deficit had it not been for the nearly $ 5 billion in coronavirus relief it received from Congress.
DeSantis’ comments mark an escalation in tensions between the Biden government and Florida. DeSantis was a great ally of former President Donald Trump, who now lives in Florida, and used that relationship to get federal help and support for some of the governor’s key initiatives during his first two years in office.
Last month, DeSantis criticized some of the initial vaccine distribution plans discussed by the White House and pushed for more doses – which resulted in White House press secretary Jen Psaki blaming Florida for not using its full vaccine quota. DeSantis responded by pointing out that some of the doses were being saved to ensure that there was enough to provide a second injection.
But DeSantis issuing a The challenging answer to the idea is a turnaround from last year, when he enacted restrictions on visitors from other states to Florida, such as New York, New Jersey and Louisiana. At the beginning of the pandemic, the governor demanded that anyone arriving in Florida from several critical points of the coronavirus perform a self-quarantine for 14 days. At one point, DeSantis even had the Florida Highway Patrol set up checkpoints on Interstate 10, the main highway that connects Florida to Louisiana.
DeSantis, who is already raising money for his 2022 re-election campaign, is seen as a potential candidate for the presidency in 2024, especially if Trump gives up on another run. DeSantis won praise from conservative media and other Republicans for his refusal to enact rigid blockades and his constant dispute with the media.
Tyler Pager contributed to this report.