Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t a fan of President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons.
That’s particularly true when it comes to Anthony Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the former chief medical advisor to the President, and the “little elf” that DeSantis wanted to “chuck across the Potomac” two years ago.
“One of Biden’s greatest abuses of power was the forcing of mRNA shots by executive fiat (which Florida successfully blocked). Now, on his way out the door, Biden pardons the chief henchman of that and so many other abuses. The swamp protects its own,” DeSantis posted to X.
Yet the second-term Republican, who is a former member of Congress in his own right, doesn’t hold the legislative branch harmless.
DeSantis said “one of the reasons bureaucrats behave badly in the first place is because Congress has failed to wield its oversight and spending authority effectively.”
As a presidential candidate running against incoming President Donald Trump, DeSantis accused his rival of being soft on Fauci.
During a 2023 interview on the Steve Deace Show, the Florida Governor lampooned the President’s disavowal of a late-term presidential commendation he granted, which he called “pathetic … drivel.”
“Of course he did give Fauci a presidential commendation his last day in office. Megyn Kelly asked him about it,” DeSantis said. “What was that? Was that the immaculate commendation that just happened to happen?”
Fauci was a frequent refrain for DeSantis during his insurgent challenge to Trump.
“I was born and raised in Florida. And while I’ve always loved the state, we didn’t have the same type of pride growing up that, say, people in Texas have about Texas. And yet in the last few years, particularly since I’ve been Governor, we’ve developed that pride and I think a lot of it is rooted in the fact that we told people like Fauci to take a hike during COVID,” DeSantis told Russell Brand in July.
Though the Never Back Down super PAC was not legally allowed to coordinate with DeSantis’ campaign, it helped to reinforce this messaging. An ad from the Spring called “Steel” is predicated on a central image: a picture of a White man in a hard hat watching Trump and Fauci talking COVID mitigation strategies.
Fauci was also a recurrent motif during DeSantis’ re-election campaign, with merchandise such as “Freedom over Fauci flip-flops” marketed to the faithful in 2022.
“Fauci doesn’t care about doing what’s right or using even basic common sense. He’s too caught up in TV interviews, magazine covers and the adulation and acceptance from elitists that he’s likely craved his entire life,” the Governor wrote in an email last year entitled “Permanent Faucism.”
Fauci served as a punching bag during more than one surge of COVID, and the Governor’s team found a merchandise opportunity there as well. When the delta variant strained hospital capacity in Florida, DeSantis’ political committee released merchandise lampooning Fauci, including “Don’t Fauci My Florida” beer koozies and T-shirts.
Biden pardoned others preemptively Monday, including General Mark Milley and former U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who broke with Trump and the GOP in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,” Biden said. “Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.”
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