DeSantis’ Office Says on Vaccine Mandate Repeal for Military: ‘In Florida, They Never Saw the Light of Day’

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – As the White House continues to defend vaccine mandates, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ team is reminding people that “in Florida, they never saw the light of day.”

Congress is set to pass the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which includes repealing the coronavirus vaccine mandate for U.S. service members a year after it was enacted, according to reports.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says Republicans in Congress would rather “fight against the health and well-being of our troops than protecting them,” calling what happened in the NDAA a “mistake.”

In 2021, DeSantis previously said:

Some people say, hey, these local governments wanted to lock down businesses. They wanted to force mandates. They wanted to keep the kids locked out of school. Yeah, you’re damn right. I overruled them on that. And the fact of the matter is, the fact of the matter is you don’t have rights. You don’t have the right to do wrong. And if I had not stepped in last year and made sure that these local governments couldn’t lock you down, couldn’t mandate, we get, we wouldn’t let them find we had kids in school last year because of me now.

Gov. Ron DeSantis

Military Times reports 3,400 troops have been involuntarily separated from service for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

“They say they have to kick people out to maintain good order and discipline,” DeSantis previously said.

“You are harming good order and discipline by not standing behind people that have fought for this country.”

DeSantis previously encouraged people to apply for the Florida State Guard, which is a civilian force that will help the state in times of disaster. The Governor announced $10 million to have 400 recruits within the Florida State Guard. 

The DeSantis administration has stood firmly against vaccine mandates. In 2021, the Governor signed legislation to ban vaccine passports.