WATCH: Gov. DeSantis Compares School Reopening to the Killing of Osama bin Laden
With anxious parents around the state of Florida debating whether or not to send their children back to school in the next few weeks, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) shared a metaphor which is unlikely to provide much reassurance.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, the Florida governor relayed comments made to him by Martin County Superintendent Laurie Gaylord.
“She viewed reopening her schools as a mission akin to a Navy SEAL operation,” DeSantis said. “Just as the SEALs surmounted obstacles to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, so too would the Martin County School system find a way to provide parents with a meaningful choice of in-person instruction or continued distance learning.”
The remark drew heavy criticism and mockery:
School kids arriving to class in Ron DeSantis’s Florida. https://t.co/6OPIIKP8Gr pic.twitter.com/KV0Hypy9q7
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) August 13, 2020
Gasbag @GovRonDeSantis thinks opening schools is like killing Bin Laden? So, it will take ten years?
— JeremyNewberger (@jeremynewberger) August 13, 2020
Can we please not invoke death when talking about foolishly opening schools in the midst of a pandemic, @GovRonDeSantis? https://t.co/jXtIzNRBTZ
— Dana Nuccitelli (@dana1981) August 13, 2020
WHAT??? https://t.co/2JYsjwFgpB
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) August 13, 2020
If, say, bin Laden were some modest number of Florida school children, a larger number of their parents and an appalling number of their grandparents. Metaphors are hard. https://t.co/OVqxQbH0Qw
— David Simon (@AoDespair) August 13, 2020
The governor’s school reopen push comes as the state continues to be hard hit by the coronavirus. While case numbers have decreased by a third from their peak two weeks ago, the state is still averaging nearly 7,000 positives per day — according to data compiled by The New York Times. Nonetheless, DeSantis has been firm in his stance on reopening — threatening to withhold funds from districts which do not offer in-person learning.
Watch above, via WJAX.
