Former President Donald Trump still towers over the GOP, and he’s set to appear Saturday at an Alabama rally. And ambitious Republicans eyeing future White House bids are increasingly emulating his brand of confrontational, fact-challenged politics on Covid.
Look no further than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. As the number of new coronavirus cases in his state soars, DeSantis is taking a page directly from Trump’s playbook — betting that an aggressive campaign against mandatory mask-wearing in schools will make him a GOP star nationwide as the party’s 2024 presidential primary comes into view.
“It is very important that we say unequivocally no to lockdowns, no to school closures, no to restrictions and no to mandates,” DeSantis told the crowd at a conservative state policy conference in Utah on Wednesday.
More than 20,000 new Covid-19 cases are being reported daily in Florida.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem too. She’s used early trips to Iowa and to conservative political gatherings to take implicit jabs at DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans who mandated masks and closed some businesses during the pandemic.
