Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) took aim on Monday at mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and their manufacturers in a continued effort to distinguish himself from his chief rival for 2024, former President Donald Trump, who oversaw a historic accelerated effort to produce and distribute the shots.
At a rally in Tega Cay, South Carolina, one of the earliest primary states, DeSantis said pharmaceutical companies are incentivized to "rush out as much to market as they can" because they "get liability protection" for side effects from the COVID-19 vaccines under emergency use authorization.
REPUBLICANS BLAST DOE GAS STOVE PROPOSAL AS 'ALARMING VIOLATION' OF LAW
DeSantis then segued into discussing the Florida grand jury that he urged the state Supreme Court to call in December to investigate "what misrepresentations and lies were made about the mRNA COVID shots."
𝐌𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠:
— NONBidenary (@KellyLMcCarty) July 18, 2023
The precedent set under Operation Warp Speed is ushering in a new wave mRNA vaccines for RSV and Influenza. This technology hasn’t been properly studied because it was tested under the guise of Operation… pic.twitter.com/vJ8ed0WsOz
"We're the only state in the country that is trying to get the truth on it," DeSantis said, citing the increasing concurrence of booster vaccinations and myocarditis in males ages 18 to 40 and the excess mortality rate that continues to outpace pre-pandemic levels.
DeSantis and Trump have made their respective COVID-19 responses a key pillar in their competition for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
Trump has called DeSantis "Lockdown Ron" several times, insisting the Florida governor has tried to rewrite history on COVID policy in the Sunshine State.
DeSantis, by contrast, said Trump "destroyed millions of people's lives" during the last year of his presidency by "turning the country over" to then-National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, who was the chief proponent of national pandemic restrictions during the Trump and Biden presidencies.
DeSantis issued a statewide lockdown in Florida on April 1, 2020, after 30 states already instituted similar measures. The lockdown orders were completely lifted in Florida by Sept. 25.
Although DeSantis praised vaccines in July 2021, he has continued to be a strong critic of vaccination mandates and sought to ban mandates for vaccines permanently during public health emergencies.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The national COVID-19 response is a critical point for DeSantis in his broader agenda of reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy.
Poor outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in relation to mRNA vaccines, is "one of the reasons why we want to clear out [all these] health agencies because they have not been honest with the American people about any of this, and you deserve honesty," DeSantis said.