Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been met with criticism after he suggested re-opening the state's schools is the same as re-opening Walmart or Home Depot.
"If a parent wants to opt for virtual education, they should absolutely be able to do that,” DeSantis said during a press conference in Jacksonville on Thursday. “We shouldn’t be forcing them to do any types of decisions. But I’m confident if you can do Home Depot, if you can do Walmart, if you can do these things, we absolutely can do the schools. I want our kids to be able minimize the education gap that I think has developed."
The state of Florida currently has over 232,700 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, making up about 6-7 percent of America's total cases, and 4,009 deaths. On Wednesday alone, Mediaite wrote that the state reported 9,989 new cases. The record for new cases in a single day in the state came last Saturday, with 11,458 confirmed, coming close to New York's one-day peak of 11,571 new cases back on April 15.
The numbers continue to look staggering; by Thursday, nearly one in five people were testing positive.
Following DeSantis' comments, Home Depot began to trend on Twitter, with many calling out the Republican for seemingly ignoring the continued presence of the virus in Florida.
