pushing back against safety protocols and a florida congressman who has been quite embattled lately, matt gaetz is mocking health experts. all the experts say look out for the delta variant or the lambda variant. nelgt it s going to be the pi kappa sigh variant. i got the florida variant. i got the freedom variant. it affects the brain. it gets you to think for yourself. by all means, think for yourself. he s giving that speech in a place where more people are dying of covid than anyplace else in america. louisiana is dealing with an outbreak and has done what science experts sometimes recommend in this situation, particularly with high rates of people not vaccinated. reinstating the mask mandate indoors. we ve had five straight days of more than 700,000 shots
polarization on the back of people s pain and suffering. in oklahoma city, icus are near capacity as covid hospitalizations have nearly doubled in the past few weeks. 27-year-old husband is in a medically induced coma. he refused to get the vaccine. now elizabeth is begging people to get vaccinated. look at florida, where just a few weeks ago, governor ron desantis pac was selling swag saying don t fauci my florida. now florida has broken its record for daily cases and vaccinations, higher than before vaccinations were available. people in the icu there are begging for vaccines. florida has gotten nearly 25 times people hospitalized for covid than all of canada. i ve got the florida variant, the freedom variant, it affects the brain, it s more self owned than he intends, mocking his own
masks. this is actually an interesting point. it leads me to my next question. you saw in randi s piece and we ve been reporting. 1 in 5 cases reported in this country are in florida alone. we ve heard from governor desantis. here s how republican congressman matt gaetz is approaching what they re seeing right now down in that state. i got the florida variant. i ve got the freedom variant. it affects the brain. it gets you to think for yourself. look, preface with it s matt gaetz. take whatever you want from what he s saying. but i think the broader issue is that there has become a very real political element here and you re talking about schools are opening at the same time that c.d.c. is pointing out now guidance, the governors are making clear they re opposed to it. this feels like a toxic combination of things at the absolute worst moment. is that your read on things or how do you feel this plays out?