FL State Sen. Tina Polsky Wears Mask at Ladapo Hearing, not During Committee Meeting

By Eric Daugherty

Published Feb. 8, 2022, 2:20 p.m. ET | Updated Jan. 3, 2023

February 8, 2022 Updated 1:28 P.M. ET

TALLAHASSEE (FCV) – Florida State Senator Tina Polsky (D) attacked Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo Sunday, citing a rebuked report that Ladapo was not recommended for the job as Surgeon General by his University of California, Los Angeles.

Polsky claimed that Ladapo did not “treat” her correctly, likely referencing the instance in which she claims he was “smug” in refusing to wear a mask for her during a meeting in her office. When Ladapo explained he does not wear masks for interviews, he offered to move the meeting outside, to which Polsky declined. Polsky is battling breast cancer.

However, it was revealed that Polsky did not wear facial coverings in other meetings.

At a confirmation hearing for Ladapo Tuesday, Polsky was seen wearing a facial covering. However, an image of a February 1 Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections meeting, Polsky was seen entirely without a mask sitting next to someone:

It doesn’t make sense that Tina Polsky never wears a mask during committee meetings except when she’s doing confirmation hearings for Dr. Ladapo.

Other than the obvious explanation. https://t.co/QnFhyQhxMF pic.twitter.com/zLSpJeyIUy
— Max (@MaxNordau) February 8, 2022

Wearing a mask for some meetings but not others indicates that Polsky may have ulterior motives for publicly wearing a mask – when it is politically beneficial for her to drum support from Democrats.

It's really frustrating because I know my colleagues know he is not the right person for the job. They sat there in the committee, they heard his non-answers. They know the background. They know how he treated me, and yet he still is going to be confirmed https://t.co/Ehu7r44VXl
— State Senator Tina Polsky (@TinaPolsky) February 6, 2022

The report Polsky is referencing shows a report from the Tallahassee Democrat saying that Ladapo was not recommended for a job as Surgeon General. However, the day that report was released, FCV released a letter from Ladapo’s advisor showing the opposite: she had glowing praises for Ladapo.

“I am pleased to provide enthusiastic support for Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo’s application to the University of Florida School of Medicine as a tenured professor of medicine,” she said.