Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) audacious comparison of reopening schools to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden on Wednesday swiftly prompted Twitter users to pan his remark, which comes amid skyrocketing COVID-19 fatalities in the state.
During a press conference on Wednesday, DeSantis continued pushing for schools to resume in-person instruction and brought up a remark from a conversation that he supposedly had with Martin County Superintendent Laurie Gaylord recently.
“She viewed reopening her schools as a mission akin to a Navy SEAL operation,” DeSantis said. “Just as the SEALs surmounted obstacles to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, so too would the Martin County School system find a way to provide parents with a meaningful choice of in-person instruction or continued distance learning.”
DeSantis’ latest remarks demanding schools to reopen — which echoes President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ calls for in-person instruction resume at schools despite surging COVID-19 cases nationwide — prompted both criticism and mockery on Twitter soon after.
Who’s bin laden in this metaphor? https://t.co/gJG1uDGCVy
— Molly Jong-Fast? (@MollyJongFast) August 13, 2020
No really. He really says that. Listen.
Is *everyone* in the trump cult insane? https://t.co/2qdhjnr3Bs
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) August 13, 2020
Something only a Democratic president can do successfully? https://t.co/mpFSCeFsfX
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 13, 2020
I didn’t believe this, until I watched it. What in the fresh hell… https://t.co/gnftSU4CUl
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) August 13, 2020
I can’t believe this is the leader of a place. That has people. https://t.co/ogyucEWcdM
— Zach Braff (@zachbraff) August 13, 2020
Kept waiting for the guy providing the sign language to just give up and start making obscene gestures. https://t.co/FyvdeHFQc4
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) August 13, 2020
