Gov. Ron DeSantis joined the growing chorus of Republican governors who have spoken out against President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, calling it a “hissy fit” at a 9/11 anniversary event on Friday.
“You should not lose your job, just because Joe Biden is having this hissy fit,” DeSantis said in Pasco County at a veterans appreciation event about the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks.
At an earlier stop in Ponte Vedra Beach, DeSantis called the action “totally counterproductive, and I think it’ll ultimately lose in court. But before that, there needs to be action taken to protect the people of our state and hopefully of the entire United States.”
Under the mandate, all employers with more than 100 workers would have to require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, potentially affecting about 80 million Americans.
Republican governors including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster have threatened lawsuits, with McMaster pledging to fight Biden to the “gates of hell.”
Biden, speaking at a Washington school Friday, responded to GOP governors, “Have at it.”
“Not a scientist in this field,” Biden said of the governors, who he said were being “so cavalier with the health of these kids, so cavalier with the health of their communities. This isn’t a game.”
Asked what he would say to Biden, DeSantis responded, “When you’re taking action that’s unconstitutional, that threatens the jobs of the people in my state, many, many thousands of jobs, I’m standing for them. We’re going to protect their jobs and against federal overreach.”
Despite Florida having made up almost a quarter of all new COVID cases at various times over the past month, DeSantis blamed Biden for the surge in cases nationally from the delta variant. Florida this week became the U.S. leader in per-capita deaths from the virus.
“This is a guy that promised when he ran for president that he would shut down the virus,” said DeSantis, who despite the surge has banned mandatory mask-wearing in schools and local government COVID restrictions. “His policies are not working, he’s doubling down on things that are going to be very disruptive for the livelihoods of many, many Americans, and obviously going to be disruptive to our constitutional system and the rule of law.”
Meanwhile, Central Florida businesses are taking a wait-and-see attitude about the mandate, though one restaurant owner said she welcomed the government stepping in.
In Sanford, Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Café downtown wants to see how the rules from OSHA affect full-time and part-time employees, said owner Christina Hollerbach. Her restaurant has 80 full-time and 60 part-time employees, she said.
Hollerbach said she was happy the feds were helping her enforce something to make people feel safe.
“The burden of making a decision, when it falls on the business owner, then you also get the repercussions,” Hollerbach said. “The small businesses always get the brunt end of it.”
Her business has been offering a $100 bonus for staffers who get fully vaccinated, but only about 60% of her workforce have received the shots, Hollerbach said.
Lakeland-based Publix is seeking further guidance from Washington, said spokeswoman Maria Brous.
“We will communicate additional information to our associates once further information is available and we have had an opportunity to review the standard,” Brous said.
Publix has more than 225,000 employees and 1,280 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The giant grocery chain is offering a $125 gift card to employees who get fully vaccinated.
The Orlando-based owner of Olive Garden, Darden Restaurants, is awaiting the full details and did not have information to share Friday, said spokesman Rich Jeffers. Darden has 160,000 employees and more than 1,830 restaurants including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, and others.
Representatives for Orlando’s theme parks, including Disney, Universal and SeaWorld, did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
Disney is the only Orlando theme park that has required its employees to get vaccinated prior to Thursday’s order. In late July, the Walt Disney Company announced a vaccine mandate for all its non-union hourly and salaried employees, with a 60-day deadline of Sept. 28 for staffers to complete their full round of vaccinations. The company reached a similar agreement with its largest union in August, and unionized employees have to provide proof of full vaccination by Oct. 22.
Universal has not instituted a vaccine mandate, though spokesman Tom Schroder previously said the resort is “urging” employees to get vaccinated. In August, two weeks after Disney’s announcement, the company said it would require employees to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status to management but did not provide details on the arrangement.
SeaWorld Orlando has not publicly shared information about its COVID-19 employee vaccination policies. The park was the first in Orlando to lift face-covering requirements for staff who could provide proof of vaccination.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
