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President Biden on Thursday condemned Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., Greg Abbott, R-Texas and other Republican governors for their responses to COVID-19 and threatened to use his presidential powers to overturn their authority.
During a speech at the White House regarding his executive order to boost COVID-19 vaccinations, Biden called out Americans who have not been vaccinated.
“This is an unvaccinated pandemic,” Biden said. “And this is caused by the fact that although America has [an] unprecedented and successful vaccination program, despite the fact that for nearly five months free vaccines have been available in more than 80,000 different places, we still have nearly 80 million Americans who have failed to get vaccinate. “
Biden then pivoted to go after governors who he says are not enforcing sufficiently strict COVID-19 protocols.
BIDEN DECLARES NEW MANDATE ON VACCINES: “IT’S NOT A QUESTION OF FREEDOM”
“And to make matters worse, there are elected officials who are actively working to undermine the fight against COVID-19,” he said. “Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated and mask themselves, they are ordering mobile mortuaries for the unvaccinated people dying from COVID in their communities.
“Right now, local school officials are trying to protect children in a pandemic while their governor fights with them and even threatens their salaries or jobs. Talk about bullying in schools,” also said Biden said.
“If they don’t help us, if these governors don’t help us defeat the pandemic, I will use my power as president to sideline them,” he added.
Biden specifically pledged to reimburse teachers “whose salaries are withheld for doing the right thing” by enforcing his administration’s mask mandates. “We will have this salary restored by the federal government, 100 percent. I promise you. I will support you,” he said.
DeSantis, who ordered masks to remain optional in Florida schools, filed an emergency appeal after a circuit court judge ruled that schools were allowed to impose mask warrants. School boards in 13 Florida districts voted to demand masks in defiance of the governor’s order, to which the governor responded by threatening to withhold their salaries.
Explaining that he did not intend to respond immediately to Biden’s speech, a spokesperson for DeSantis said the governor “is focused on work for the people of Florida and not getting into small food brawls, ”and directed Fox News to the remarks he made earlier Thursday. his take on federal COVID mandates.
“And I think the more it got coercive, where people threatened with terms of office, layoffs and business consequences, the more it does that, I think the more it alienates people,” DeSantis said in part. “I don’t think it really helps more people do it, but I don’t think people should lose their jobs because of this problem, and we will fight against it.”
“If they try to do it through a rule like the Ministry of Labor, I don’t think they have the legal authority to do it, but obviously we would want to support protections for people who were just trying. to earn a living, ”he added.
In Texas, Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting schools from imposing mask warrants, allowing individuals to choose whether they wish to wear masks, a move that has drawn backlash in the legal system.
Abbott responded to Biden’s decision on Thursday by tweeting: “Biden’s vaccine mandate is an attack on private companies. I issued an executive order protecting the right of Texans to choose whether they receive the COVID vaccine and the I added to the special session’s agenda. Texas is already working to end this takeover. “
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Biden’s speech was immediately rejected by several other Republican governors who threatened to sue if his administration attempted to interfere with state sovereignty.
“My legal team is ready to file our complaint the minute @joebiden files their unconstitutional rule,” tweeted Governor Kristi Noem, RS.D. “This blatant example of federal intrusion will not hold up.”
“I will pursue all legal options available to the state of Georgia to end this blatantly illegal reach of the Biden administration,” Gov. Brian Kemp, R-Ga wrote.
Governor Henry McMaster, RS.C., tweeted: “The American dream has turned into a nightmare under President Biden and the radical Democrats. They declared war on capitalism, thumbed their noses at the Constitution, and strengthened our enemies abroad. assured, we will fight them to the gates of hell to protect the freedom and livelihoods of every South Carolinian. “
Gov. Doug Ducey, R-Ariz., Wrote: “This is exactly the kind of big government excesses we have worked to prevent in Arizona – now the Biden-Harris administration is attacking private companies.” and individual freedoms in an unprecedented context. and dangerous. It will never hold up in court.
“This dictatorial approach is bad, anti-American, and will do a lot more harm than good. How many workers will be displaced? How many children are excluded from classrooms? How many companies are fined? The vaccine is and should be a choice. We must and will push back. “
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