DeSantis Elevates Vaccine Antics to Theater of the Absurd
The Florida governor’s offer of jobs and bonuses to out-of-state police officers shows there is no outrage too great in service of his political ambition.
Rationality isn't the objective. Courting an irrational electoral base is.
Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has been competing with his counterpart in Texas, Greg Abbott, to see who can be more adept at replacing sound public policy-making with political theatrics in the Covid-19 era. DeSantis just pulled ahead.
On Sunday, he told Fox News he wanted police officers disgruntled about local vaccine mandates around the country to know they were welcome in Florida. “Nobody should lose their jobs based off of these injections,” he noted. He said he planned to introduce legislation in Florida that would offer new jobs and $5,000 bonuses to officers who relocate from out of state. “NYPD, Minneapolis, Seattle, if you’re not being treated well, we’ll treat you better here,” he said.