LA Mask Mandate ‘Imminent’ Days After Governor Newsom Says ‘We Still Believe in Freedom’

July 13, 2022 Updated 1:17 P.M. ET

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – Los Angeles County appears to be ready to bring back a mask mandate days after Governor Gavin Newsom urged Floridians to join him in California that believes in “freedom.” 

“No amount of media narratives can gaslight Americans into believing that mandates are freedom,” Governor DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw said. 

Los Angeles County public health director said the county is on track to impose an indoor mask mandate due to high cases. The announcement came less than two weeks after Governor Newsom launched a campaign ad in Florida on July 4th saying “freedom is under attack in your state.”

“I urge all of you living in Florida to join the fight or join us in California,” he said. “Where we still believe in freedom.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly said he would not impose a statewide mask mandate. 

Californians and New Yorkers are reportedly leading the surge in 2022 as people move to Florida. DeSantis’ office said there is no scientific evidence to justify mask mandates.

“The mask mandate that Los Angeles County appears poised to bring back would not be allowed in the state of Florida,” Pushaw said. “Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, Florida has enacted laws that protect citizens from overreaching local mandates. Floridians are free to decide for themselves whether to wear a mask or not.”

“As Governor DeSantis has highlighted, people from all over the country – including California – are coming to Florida to experience freedom,” Pushaw said. “In contrast, since Gavin Newsom became Governor, California has lost population to migration for the first time in its history of statehood.”

Governor Newsom’s ad attacked Governor DeSantis’ Parental Rights in Education law, 15-week abortion ban, and efforts to take Critical Race Theory out of classroom textbooks.