Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called out Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday and was greeted like a rockstar at a country music festival in Panama City Beach, Florida.
In the clip posted on Twitter from the Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, DeSantis walks out on stage with a crowd in front of him going wild, hollering and cheering for him.
DeSantis then tells the gathered crowd that the only reason they could be at the concert was because “Florida chose freedom over Fauci-ism.” The crowd loved it and enthusiastically applauded.
“Nothing says Florida is open like a night of live music at the@Pepsi @GulfCoastJam, the largest music festival since the pandemic began,” the governor later tweeted, along with pictures from the evening.
DeSantis recently made headlines when he called Florida “America’s West Berlin” in regard to how his state handled the pandemic compared to those states with stricter COVID-19 rules.
#DontFauciMyFlorida pic.twitter.com/qGwYcXD2h3
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) June 7, 2021
“People have the right to work, a right to operate businesses,” the governor shared at a press conference. “They need more employees, that’s the main thing at this point. We’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish. We are effectively America’s West Berlin over the last year and people view this as a free zone.”
DeSantis suspended statewide COVID-19 rules in May.
