Democrat Charlie Crist Suddenly Decides It Is Time to 'Move Past' the Coronavirus

Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL), who is vying to challenge Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in this year’s gubernatorial race in the Sunshine State, has suddenly decided that it is time to “move past” the Chinese coronavirus, over one year after DeSantis has already done so.

“It’s time to responsibly move past COVID,” the Democrat and former Florida governor said, noting that omicron is “fading” and vaccines are “plentiful.”

With that, Crist said, “we should be able to turn the page on this crisis for good. We may never eliminate COVID, but like the flu, we can live with it without a major disruption to our lives.”

“We got here because while some of our leaders played partisan politics, others got to work — and together, we all did our part. We need to keep promoting vaccines and boosters to the millions of Floridians who still haven’t gotten the shot,” he continued, overtly ignoring the work DeSantis has done in the state over the past two years, prioritizing liberty and promoting economic freedom while blue states continued to enforce mass masking and promote vaccine mandates.

“But there’s still a lot of work to do to strengthen our economy and our state. We have to help our children make up for the learning loss,” he said, failing to mention that DeSantis was among the first to reopen schools while adamantly fighting against forced masking of children in those settings.

“We have to fix the supply chain issues. We have to help workers get off the sidelines, by getting them reliable child care and sick leave,” he continued, again refusing to acknowledge that DeSantis led Florida in helping alleviate the supply chain crisis in the country by increasing the capacity of Florida’s ports.

Ignoring all of these facts, Crist inexplicably concluded that DeSantis “isn’t up to the job,” calling him a “disaster” and complaining that the Republican governor opposed Biden’s America Rescue Plan, which drastically worsened inflation.

“Instead of championing life-saving vaccines, he catered to anti-vaccine and anti-mask conspiracy theorists,” Crist claimed, touting the false narrative  — a favorite of the leftists, who routinely ignore that DeSantis prioritized vaccines for the most vulnerable but made it clear that he would respect the personal freedom of Floridians, recognizing their right to make the choice if they want the jab nor not. His lie is stunningly similar to the false narrative promoted by White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who in January attacked the governor for prioritizing personal freedom throughout the pandemic.

“Governor DeSantis turned our schools into yet another political battleground, picking fights with school boards and teachers who are just trying to keep our kids safe. His presidential ambitions have resulted in school closures and disruptions all across our beautiful state,” Crist continued, essentially complaining about DeSantis championing parental rights and asserting that they should make decisions about their children’s education and health — not a faceless bureaucrat.

“I’m running so you’ll be in charge again, so you will have a governor who will work for the people… to rebuild this economy… to rebuild our schools… and to unite us again. It’s time to put political division behind us, and unify our state around our shared values,” Crist added:

But the good news is that with Omicron fading, vaccines plentiful, and new drugs to treat the virus, we should be able to turn the page on this crisis for good.

We may never eliminate COVID, but like the flu, we can live with it without a major disruption to our lives.

— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) February 28, 2022

But there’s still a lot of work to do to strengthen our economy and our state.

We have to help our children make up for the learning loss. We have to fix the supply chain issues. We have to help workers get off the sidelines, by getting them reliable child care and sick leave.

— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) February 28, 2022

DeSantis opposed the American Rescue Plan that saved our economy from the kind of crash we experienced during the Great Recession.

Instead of championing life-saving vaccines, he catered to anti-vaccine and anti-mask conspiracy theorists.

— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) February 28, 2022

I’m running so you’ll be in charge again, so you will have a governor who will work for the people… to rebuild this economy… to rebuild our schools… and to unite us again.

It’s time to put political division behind us, and unify our state around our shared values.

— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) February 28, 2022

Crist’s sudden shift in tone, calling to move past the coronavirus, coincides with other blue state leaders making similar calls, likely due to consistent polling showing souring opinions on the left’s handling of the pandemic.

Adding to this theory is the fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), days before President Biden’s State of the Union address, also experienced a sudden change of heart, concluding that indoor masking should not be required in most parts of the country. What is more, the U.S. House of Representatives suddenly opted to drop its mask requirement, which has been in place for months, prior to Biden’s SOTU address.

DeSantis, who consistently crushes Crist in the polls, recently warned Americans about the left’s sudden “epiphany” regarding restrictions and mandates.

“So when you start to see them kind of reevaluate or say all this, just understand this. The science didn’t change. The medical science didn’t change. The political science changed. They feel the heat,” he said:

The medical science on forced masking children didn’t change — the political science did. In Florida, we never imposed state mask mandates, and we liberated children and parents from the local authorities that did. We hope every jurisdiction will follow suit. pic.twitter.com/Dz4SgObVJx

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 8, 2022

“They know that voters have been tired of perpetual lockdown policies. They know that they have basically offered no off ramp and they know that they’re fixing to be whooped at the polls, so that’s causing the epiphany,” DeSantis added.

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