Tampa, FL — Today, State Reps. Anna Eskamani and Dianne Hart along with doctors and health care advocates, joined Protect Our Care Florida to call for the opposition of confirming Dr. Joseph Ladapo as surgeon general and the announcement of the Florida Coronavirus Accountability Campaign.
This event is part of our ongoing “Florida Coronavirus Accountability Campaign”- an effort to hold Ron DeSantis accountable for politicizing the pandemic. The campaign was launched by Protect Our Care Florida and the Coronavirus War Room two weeks ago in Tallahassee with a mobile billboard calling out Ron DeSantis for putting politics ahead of public health. The Florida Coronavirus Accountability Campaign will work to draw attention to the way Governor DeSantis’ actions have politicized the pandemic and delayed our return to normalcy, all in a blatant and inexcusable attempt to score political points.
“We need someone for this position who can rise above politics, not a Surgeon General who literally is here for political gain, and is using his opinion to inform public health opinions––not science and not fan,” shared Rep. Anna Eskamani (HD-47). “I wish this was a charade or an Onion article, but this is really happening in Florida, and we need every Floridian to call this out for what it is.”
“Let’s be very clear: by nominating Dr. Joseph Ladapo as his surgeon general, Governor DeSantis has made yet another disastrous choice for the public health of Floridians, yet again politicizing the pandemic response instead of doing what is in our state’s best interest,” shared William Miller, state director for Protect Our Care Florida. “Dr. Ladapo has lied about his credentials, has been iced out by the medical community, and refuses to promote life-saving vaccines. This is a dangerous stance for any medical professional to take, let alone the one would be in charge of promoting the public health of a large state like Florida.”
“The pandemic has affected people like myself in the disabled community, because you often don’t know how many people around you who have disabilities or are immunocompromised like me. When I hear Dr. Ladapo and others promote ideas like herd immunity, I feel like we are an afterthought, and would be the first to pass if those ideas are acted on. I strongly oppose Dr. Ladapo’s nomination and I hope that we can continue to fight disinformation in our state,” said Tiffany Pervis, an immunocompromised advocate based in Tampa.
“While I want to echo what folks have said today on this call, I also want to highlight that instead of engaging in these food fights over our health and welfare, we should instead be focusing on decisions that can make our state healthier and safer both during this pandemic and outside of it,” shared Rep. Dianne Hart (HD-61) . “Instead, our state is making headlines and is again the laughing stock because of an ill-suited nominee to lead our state’s health department. I think it’s a shame, and I wish leaders in our state like our Governor would work with us in the Legislature on solutions that actually help the problem, and not just stir the pot for the sake of stirring the pot.”