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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may be making a "calculated" bid to win over former President Donald Trump's supporters to his side ahead of the 2024 Republican primaries.
DeSantis announced on Tuesday that he has asked the Florida state Supreme Court to impanel a grand jury to investigate potential "wrongdoing" surrounding COVID-19 vaccines.
The governor spoke to Fox News' Laura Ingraham about the probe on her show on Tuesday. His remarks were highlighted by journalist Aaron Rupar on Twitter and shared by attorney and former prosecutor Ron Filipkowski.
"Desantis believes this is an issue he can use to beat Trump," Filipkowski wrote.
"The MAGA base is anti-vax. It's the one thing they strongly disagree with Trump on. Alex Jones, for one, said he would support Desantis if Trump didn't come out against the vaccines. He didn't. This is very calculated," he said.
Trump has announced his intention to run for president again in 2024. DeSantis has long been considered a potential rival for the GOP nomination but has made no formal announcement of his intentions.
DeSantis told Ingraham: "It seems like the medical establishment never wanted to be honest with people about the potential drawbacks" of COVID-19 vaccines.
He went on to criticize colleges in other states for requiring students to receive booster shots.
"Any type of cost-benefit analysis would say the benefit for them taking the shot, as you alluded to—it doesn't prevent them from getting infected or spreading it, anyways. The benefit is minuscule," the governor said.
DeSantis also took aim at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during a roundtable discussion in Florida on Tuesday when he announced the grand jury probe.
"And our CDC at this point, anything they put out, you just assume at this point that it's not worth the paper that it's printed on," the governor said.
The Washington Post reported in October this year that a "partisan gap" in deaths from COVID-19 emerged after vaccines became available and that counties in Florida and Ohio that voted for Trump in 2020 had lower vaccination rates than counties President Joe Biden won.
Trump has been a strong supporter of COVID-19 vaccines and touted his administration's Operation Warp Speed initiative, which worked to quickly develop them.
Roger Stone, a longtime Republican activist and Trump ally, told NBC News on Tuesday: "Prior to this, his [DeSantis'] position was identical to Trump's, and he advocated the efficiency and safety of vaccines. That's his record."
DeSantis had initially touted COVID-19 vaccinations in the spring of 2021. But as the year progressed, he appeared increasingly reluctant to promote the vaccines, instead voicing support for post-infection treatment like monoclonal antibody doses. In January, DeSantis refused to say if he'd received a booster.
Florida has banned the use of COVID-19 vaccine passports—making it illegal for businesses or government agencies to ask people for proof that they have received the vaccine. That ban was upheld by an appeals court in October.
The governor has also been critical of lockdown measures and mandates, saying in a speech in January that Florida had "become the escape hatch for those chafing under authoritarian, arbitrary and seemingly never-ending mandates and restrictions."
Though DeSantis has not declared whether he'll seek the GOP nomination in 2024, a recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll found that DeSantis leads Trump with 56 percent support to the former president's 33 percent among Republican voters and independents who identify as either conservative or very conservative.
Newsweek has asked former President Trump's office for comment.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more