For reasons not entirely clear, President Trump had the core of his base in his adopted state of Florida on his mind today:
Congratulations to all of my many friends at The Villages in Florida on having done so well, and with such great spirit, during these rather unusual times. So proud of everyone! Mark Morse & Gary Lester have really stepped up to the plate. Hope to see everyone soon.
(mobile.twitter.com/...)
This quickly provoked a confused reaction from some in the community.
President Trump sent out a tweet Monday about The Villages and its handling of the COVID-19 virus that left some residents scratching their heads.
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The tweet, which possibly was inspired from information provided by Gov. Ron DeSantis about the community, raised questions about whether the president is planning a return visit to Florida’s Friendliest Hometown. He spoke about protecting Medicare at the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center in October and suggested at the time that he’d much rather have had an outside rally where more people could have attended. He most likely wasn’t aware that before he arrived at the 1,000-seat venue, protesters on both sides of the political fence clashed in Spanish Springs Town Square.
Trump’s tweet also would indicate that he’s not aware of some of the issues surrounding the Coronavirus that have been going on in The Villages. Local residents were seen crowded around restaurant bars when news of the virus and the need to practice social distancing first surfaced. Golfers also were seen in groups on several courses. And Sumter County sheriff’s deputies have dispersed crowds from Lake Sumter Landing, where a large fence has been erected around the town square area and chairs and picnic tables have been roped off to keep residents from using them.
(www.villages-news.com/...)
Meanwhile, heckuva Governor DeSantis (slate.com/...) announced the task force which will be recommending when Florida should reopen for non-essential (i.e., non-WWE, www.nbcnews.com/...) business. In addition to giving them until Friday, he forgot to include any doctors:
The first meeting of the Re-Open Florida Task Force did not include discussion about the health risks of returning people to work and the extensive testing requirements needed before returning people to normal life.
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The state’s top two health officials, the surgeon general and the secretary for the Agency for Health Care Administration, were not heard from until the end of the call.
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The task force members, who were not announced until the end of Monday’s teleconferenced meeting, include the state’s top elected Republicans and representatives from some of the state’s largest corporations and trade groups, including Disney, Lockheed Martin, Florida Power & Light, AT&T and the Florida Bankers Association. Tampa General Hospital President and CEO John Couris is on the task force, but no members are doctors.
They may be using new math, the kind that got The Villages testing site closed "after having claimed to have tested 3,955 people – 1,855 with symptoms and 2,100 who were asymptomatic." The late Carol Lynch tried to get tested there (www.villages-news.com/...). Heckuva job indeed.