Nikki Fried Falsely Claims DeSantis Wants a “Vaccine Ban”

February 11th, 2021 Updated 12:47 P.M. ET

TALLAHASSEE (FCV) – Florida Agriculture Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried (D) falsely claimed in an interview with Telemundo51 that Governor Ron DeSantis (R) wants a “vaccine ban.”

“When President Biden came out and said that he wanted to have a vaccine mandate, the Governor wanted to have a vaccine ban,” she said.

“I said ‘I don’t want either of those!’ I want to educate the population.”

While Biden did call for a vaccine mandate, which was struck down in federal court, DeSantis never called for a ban on vaccination.

In fact, DeSantis himself has said he is vaccinated and his own Florida Department of Health encourages vaccination.

In a flashback to summer of 2021, DeSantis made the news for outright encouraging Floridians get vaccinated and faced criticism from anti-vaccine Americans calling him a ‘sellout.’

“Vaccines are saving lives,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis also said that a fully vaccinated person getting seriously sick or dying is “effectively zero” in July 2021. “Nearly 95% of those admitted to hospitals with the disease aren’t fully vaccinated,” he said.

“Those vaccines are saving lives. They are reducing mortality.”

Common misconceptions, or outright lies, have emerged from Democrat figures like Fried who falsely characterize conservative stars like DeSantis and Trump as “anti-vax” when both are pro-vaccine.