Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday defended the firing of Department of Health employee Rebekah Jones and pushed back against media accounts calling her the chief architect of the state’s COVID-19 information “dashboard.” The governor also pointed to an issue of an unrelated criminal charge against Jones.
During a media availability in Orlando with Vice President Mike Pence, DeSantis said his administration has been transparent and that the COVID-19 data remains publicly available.
“Any insinuation otherwise is just typical partisan narrative trying to be spun,” DeSantis said. “And part of the reason is that because you got a lot of people (reporters) who wax poetically for weeks and weeks about how Florida was going to be just like New York. ‘Wait two weeks, Florida’s gonna be next.’ ‘Just like Italy, wait two weeks.’ Well, hell, we’re eight weeks away from that and it hasn’t happened.”We welcome readers to submit letters regarding articles and content in Orlando Weekly. Letters should be a minimum of 150 words, refer to content that has appeared on Orlando Weekly, and must include the writer's full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes. No attachments will be considered. Writers of letters selected for publication will be notified via email. Letters may be edited and shortened for space.
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