On COVID, Trump and DeSantis Converged and Diverged

In recent weeks, both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have touted their own handling of the COVID pandemic while criticizing each other’s response to the crisis.
It’s only natural in the slow run-up to 2024. Everyone wants to be able to say they got COVID right—and hindsight is always 20/20.
On March 29, the “Trump War Room” Twitter account, associated with the former president’s campaign team, posted a video denouncing DeSantis.
They sought to define the governor’s response in dire terms with the caption: “Lockdowns. Armed checkpoints. School shutdowns. Beach and business closures.”
Members of the Florida National Guard help at a coronavirus testing site they set up at C.B. Smith Park on March 20, 2020, in Pembroke Pines, Florida. National Guard medics along with health care personnel with the Memorial Healthcare System, administer the test for COVID-19, which includes swabbing the patient’s nose and throat. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
But that tweet fell flat with many readers, who “added context” that “the governor quickly dropped that approach” and has “been hailed as an anti-restriction hero on the right.” In addition, they defended DeSantis for following guidance from the Trump administration….