DeSantis Blasted for Publicly Berating Students for Wearing Masks at Press Conference

Florida's far-right Governor Ron DeSantis has risen in popularity among conservatives for his frequent rejection of public health guidances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed nearly 1 million Americans.

The governor has worked to ban mask mandates in schools and to prevent private businesses from verifying vaccine statuses of their customers. Though Florida ranks third in the nation for COVID-19 deaths, conservatives have hailed DeSantis' pandemic policy as a success and praised the Sunshine State as the "Free State of Florida."

This week, DeSantis held a press conference at the University of South Florida (USF) announcing funding for cybersecurity programs there.

Ahead of the presser, he berated a group of students behind him for wearing masks.

Watch below.

A visibly annoyed DeSantis told them:

"You do not have to wear those masks. Please take them off. Honestly, it's not doing anything. We've gotta stop with this Covid theater. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous."

In the wake of the highly transmissible Omicron variant that swept the nation earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released data that found cloth masks—a ubiquitous symbol of the pandemic—to be the least effective in protecting against COVID-19, while N95 and other respirator masks were most effective.

Now, in the latest stage of the pandemic, mask mandates are easing across the country, though millions of Americans still personally choose to wear masks in certain situations.

What's more, it's been confirmed that the students DeSantis berated weren't USF students, but students of nearby Middleton High School.

In a statement to WFLA, representatives of the school said:

"It is a student and parents' choice to protect their health in a way they feel most appropriate. We are proud of the manner in which our students represented themselves."

Social media users' responses to the Governor's outburst were far less diplomatic.

Conservatives, including DeSantis, have frequently claimed they have no issue with mask-wearing as long as individuals are allowed the choice to go with or without one.

Though DeSantis qualified the students could wear the masks if they wanted, some found his shaming hypocritical.

Meanwhile, DeSantis' spokesperson, Christina Pushaw, is promoting and praising the clip on her Twitter account.