Florida Governor Ron DeSantis acknowledged at a briefing in Orlando on Tuesday that the state has seen “a real explosion in new cases” over the past week among younger residents. Florida officials are cracking down on bars and restaurants that violate occupancy limits and social distancing recommendations, DeSantis said, denouncing “crowded” establishments that are “like chaos” and “America’s dance party.” .
“The message is to stick with the core program that we have really advised from the beginning,” he said. “It is still important to maintain adequate physical distance. Good hygiene is very important: wash your hands, do things like that. It makes a difference. And it’s also important … when you can’t socially distance yourself and keep those 6 feet, wearing the face mask can help reduce transmission. “
Florida, a battlefield state that will host the Republican National Convention in August and a presidential debate in the fall, peaked in daily positive cases on Saturday, with 4,655 infections. The state recorded 3,862 more cases on Monday, the third-highest total in the past two weeks, and the age group 25-34 is the demographic group with the most infections.
More than a quarter of Florida cases are in Miami-Dade County. The Presidential Debates Commission announced Tuesday that Miami will host the presidential debate on October 15. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, however, told POLITICO that the debate may not have an audience.
“I can’t see it hosted with people in the audience today,” he said in a text message. “Impossible to predict where we will be on October 15.”
Growing cases in those regions threaten to strangle the Trump administration’s push to reopen the country, raising serious questions about the White House’s strategy of deferring to states on health restrictions and other measures as Americans begin. to emerge from months of blockages. It could also hurt the president’s reelection bid: Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden leads Trump or only narrowly follows him in recent polls in all three states.
In recent Arizona polls, both Trump and current Republican Senator Martha McSally follow their Democratic opponents, Biden and former astronaut Mark Kelly. Democrats need to get three or four seats in the Senate to gain control of the chamber, depending on who wins the White House. Kelly leads by double digits in a Fox News poll released earlier this month, though Biden’s lead is just 4 percentage points.
Biden has a 6-point lead over Trump in Florida, according to the recent RealClearPolitics poll average. Bill Clinton in 1992 was the last candidate to lose Florida and still win the presidential election.
Democrats have an uphill battle to topple Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn, but in the state’s latest poll this month, the president led Biden by just 1 percentage point, within the margin of error in a traditionally red state.
