Florida Surgeon General Under Fire for Refusing to Mask Up in Office of Lawmaker Battling Cancer, Says He Can’t ‘Communicate Clearly’ Wearing It

Josh FeldmanOct 26th, 2021, 4:33 pm

Joseph Ladapo casting doubt on vaccines

The Surgeon General of Florida has come under criticism for declining to mask up for a meeting with a state lawmaker.

State Senator Tina Polsky was set to meet with Joseph Ladapo last week, but the Surgeon General and two aides showed up maskless, so she asked them to mask up. They did not.

Polsky has cancer and Florida Politics reported she is starting radiation therapy treatment this week.

Polsky said she expressed to Ladapo “I had a serious medical condition” and described his response as “very smug.”

Polsky said he offered to go outside when she asked him to put the mask on, but she declined.

“I don’t want to go outside,” Polsky said she told Ladapo after he made the offer. “I want you to sit in my office and talk to you.”

She eventually asked them to leave.

Polsky later said she has a mask outside her office asking people to wear masks and “everyone has respected my wishes, except for the surgeon general.”

After days of controversy, Ladapo issued a statement Tuesday saying, “I respect all individuals, and would never knowingly be disrespectful to anyone.”

“I stated multiple times that she had every right to implement any safety protocols she wanted in her office,” he said.

As for why he didn’t respect those safety protocols, Ladapo said:

I attempted in good faith to find some way for us to communicate that would respect each of our preferences. Having a conversation with someone while wearing a mask is not something I find productive, especially when other options exist. It is important to me to communicate clearly and effectively with people. I can’t do that when half of my face is covered.

I recommended an outdoor meeting to the Senator because of her concern about COVID-19 transmission, as the data clearly show that outdoor settings are much safer than indoor settings.

Because this suggestion was not considered acceptable to her, I offered to identify some other solution that would allow us to communicate in a manner that would respect both of our preferences. I even offered to sit outside of her office in the hallway. Unfortunately, she did not consider any of these options to be satisfactory.