Florida Governor Compares Reopening Schools During Pandemic to Killing Osama bin Laden

No amount of re-reading or re-listening to Ron DeSantis' comments will make them make sense. DeSantis, of course, is a governor of the Trump-loving variety.

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Image via Getty/ Don Juan Moore

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Amid the many controversies associated with the push for reopened schools, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has decided now is the time to make some convoluted Osama bin Laden comments.

Indeed, during a a press conference on Wednesday, DeSantis told viewers that Martin County Superintendent Laurie Gaylord had relayed to him a message about reopening efforts being a task "akin to a Navy SEAL operation." From there, DeSantis extended that comparison with a puzzling bin Laden mention.

"Just as the SEALs surmounted obstacles to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, so too would the Martin County school system find a way to provide parents with a meaningful choice of in-person instruction or continued distanced learning," he said. "All in, all the time."

Opening schools is like killing bin Laden, Ron DeSantis says. pic.twitter.com/lDjAj4iTbW

— alexander nazaryan (@alexnazaryan) August 13, 2020

In Martin County, per a report from regional outlet TCPalm, a SeaWind Elementary School class was sent home after a student started showing symptoms of COVID-19 just one day after the district reopened for in-person sessions. 

And while the conversation surrounding the need for in-person sessions for many children across the U.S. is an important one to have, what's missing from the messaging is a stronger stance on masks and other social distancing measures. As a recent viral photo from a Georgia school showed, for example, there are still far too many people failing to move through the pandemic era with care.

Per the latest CDC update, the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. is now above 5 million.

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