Governors of the two largest Republican-run states are diverging in their responses to a massive increase in coronavirus cases.
Florida government Ron DeSantis
Ronald Dion DeSantisTrump says he will not issue a national mask mandate Florida County Sheriff warns he may introduce curfew amid growing COVID-19 cases The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Argentum – The mask debate American intensifies MORE, a major ally of Trump on a key 2020 battleground, has always downplayed the severity of the outbreak, even as it worsens in his state.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, meanwhile, has begun taking steps to address the increase in cases, though not on the same scale as many Democratic governors or even some Republican colleagues.
His actions underscore the varying degrees to which Republican governors are willing to continue President Trump
Donald John Trump, Pelosi and Blumenaur condemn Trump’s “heinous abuses of power” against Oregon protesters. Federal agents deployed in Portland had no riot control training: NYT Trump administration sought to block funding for CDC, contact tracing, and testing on new relief law: MORE reportLeading the fight against COVID-19.
DeSantis is a first-term governor who won a limited victory in 2018 after being backed by Trump multiple times. Political observers believe the relationship has influenced their response to the outbreak.
“Clearly, they have come together politically and DeSantis owes the fact that today he is governor to President Trump,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida.
When Florida reported nearly 11,500 new cases and nearly 9,000 people hospitalized on Friday, DeSantis said he believes the cases are stabilizing.
Like Trump, DeSantis has largely despised the devastating impact of COVID-19 and, at times, antagonistic toward virus-related restrictions.
It has refused to issue a statewide mask order, cut funding for prison treatment of illnesses, and cut all of the state’s online learning budget.
His position on the masks aligns him with Trump, who has refused to issue a national mandate to cover his face in public. Before last weekend, Trump had repeatedly refused to wear a mask in public, even when Republican lawmakers had urged him to set an example for the country.
In Texas, another state where cases are emerging, Abbott moved from some previous positions. He recently reversed his months-long opposition to the masks, forcing them in certain counties. The mandate applies to most counties in the state, but some local sheriffs have said they will refuse to apply it.
Ezemenari Obasi, a professor and associate dean of research at the University of Houston Health Research Institute, said that while the mandate will be useful, it has not yet reached what is needed.
“I appreciate that it took a lot of courage to move forward with the latest executive order … but it’s also in very specific counties. That’s not enough,” Obasi said. “You have seen mayors and you see judges who ask to be able to do more, but they cannot, because it would be more restrictive than state restrictions.”
The Houston mayor has been asking the authority to issue a two-week shutdown to curb the spread of the virus, but Abbott rejected it.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Florida and Texas were hailed as coronavirus success stories, and the White House congratulated both governors. As the virus spread throughout much of the northeast, the two states saw very few infections and were among the first to reopen businesses after small orders to stay home.
When infections began to increase, both governors remained in tune with the administration. They denied that the increase was due to opening too early, and instead attributed the number of new cases to more evidence, echoing Trump’s opinion.
Now, the two states are among the most affected in the country.
Texas had 10,256 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and 174 more deaths, a one-day record. Authorities have reportedly asked for more body bags and refrigerated trucks in anticipation of an increase in deaths.
Both states have seen at least three consecutive days with more than 100 deaths, but only Abbott, a second-term governor who has held a statewide office since 2002, has acknowledged the gravity of the situation.
“Every day the events get worse,” Abbott said Thursday during a video address to the Texas Republican Party Convention. “If we don’t stop this disease quickly, our hospitals will be overrun, and I’m afraid it will even inflict some of the people I’m talking to right now.”
Earlier in the pandemic, Abbott had prohibited local officials from instituting their own coronavirus mandates. But after hospitalizations began to rise, it allowed local governments to require companies to order masks for customers and employees.
Recently, he stopped non-essential surgeries and meetings limited to no more than 10 people.
Additionally, Abbott closed bars in the state, but restaurants can continue to operate at 50 percent of their indoor capacity. The gyms remain open.
DeSantis, who also barred bars from serving alcohol, recently changed his tune and began to acknowledge the massive increase in cases across the state. But he maintains that the majority of infected people are young and that hospitals have a lot of capacity.
Local officials and public health experts have been urging DeSantis to order masks statewide, requests that he has denied.
“Unfortunately, what we have now is a mosaic of policies … and it has created all kinds of problems,” said Jill Roberts, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida School of Public Health. “When the mayor says do it and the governor says it doesn’t matter, citizens side with the policy they align with.”
Jewett of the University of Central Florida said polls indicate that state residents are not exactly satisfied with DeSantis’ response to the crisis.
He noted that many governors, including Abbott, obtained high voter ratings for their handling of the virus in the spring. DeSantis, however, did not.
“It seems like … most Floridians are looking for a more proactive response than what Governor DeSantis gave. He just hasn’t delivered on what many Floridians were looking for,” Jewett said.
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