Q&A of the Day – Governor DeSantis’s track record during the pandemic
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
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Today’s entry: You’ve said several times that Florida’s doing better than the rest of the country with the pandemic. Can you give me some stats so I can share them with my DeSantis hating friends that keep pointing to what Fried’s saying?
Bottom Line: Stats you ask? Most certainly... I’m generally careful not to throw to many numbers at you on-air which is why I tend to say Florida’s doing better with this or that based on what we’re talking about but it’s easy enough to put together a summary which shows where Florida ranks comparatively in all COVID categories. Everything I’m getting ready to share with you represents what’s happened since the onset of the pandemic through Saturday. Here’s how Florida compares to other states during the pandemic. Everything is adjusted for population.
- 29th in cases (better than 28 states)
- 27th in deaths (better than 26 states)
- 25th in testing (better than 24 states – exactly average)
What this demonstrates is that Florida has tested right in line with the country as a whole but has had fewer COVID cases and fewer deaths than most states. It’s empirical that Florida has performed better than the country as a whole, without any caveats during the pandemic. Whether it’s Nikki Fried or, insert news outlet here, which has stated something to the contrary – they're simply wrong at best and deliberately lying at worst. Now, be mindful that what I just shared with you is only a reflection of the state’s performance with COVID independent from other considerations like our economy not being locked down and our kids being able to attend school. It’s when you factor those in that Florida’s performance goes from better than average to exceptional.
According to WalletHub, Florida ranks 8th with the fewest restrictions during the pandemic and consequently our economy has relatively flourished. According to the most recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Florida’s unemployment rate entered 2021 at 5.1%, 19th best nationally and 31% lower than the national average of 6.7%. Incidentally, Governor DeSantis mentioned in his State of the State address last week that Florida’s unemployment rate would be revised down for prior months and that’s exactly what the federal government found. Florida’s unemployment rate dropped by a full point over what had been originally estimated.
The bottom line is that there just isn’t anyway to negatively spin Florida’s pandemic performance. Empirically, Florida’s worst performance in any category is average, and in full context is exceptional. Governor DeSantis’s record managing Florida during the pandemic has demonstrably been the best of any larger state governor in the country by a wide margin. There are two sides to stories and one side to facts.
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