The DeSantis policy of complete stupidity isn’t working as well as he hoped. In his latest wheeze his pet Surgeon General has called for a halt to using mRNA coronavirus vaccines because he believes they could contaminate patients’ DNA despite this supposition being thoroughly debunked.
Everyone, apart from the demented denizens of the dark recesses of the conspiracy land, know that vaccines were one of the great medical successes of the twentieth century. The ability to create the mRNA vaccines in such a short time in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 was the result of decades of research and development into the technology.
Unfortunately there are people who adopt scepticism as a surrogate for personality and intelligence. Understanding molecular biology, virology and related disciplines requires intelligence, concentration and the ability to retain a lot of information. Far easier to just say ‘mah’ and copy and paste a meme. That way they can somehow feel validated and involved without doing any intellectual heavy lifting.
The Florida governor has recently jumped on the anti-vaccine bandwagon, presumably with the mistaken belief that this will make him seem more interesting. He was a keen advocate of Covid-19 vaccinations in 2021, By August 2022 he had flipped and was claiming that the vaccines were not “protecting against transmission to the extent that we had hope”. By October he was being very shy about his booster status. He cemented his commitment to stupidity by appointing Joseph A. Ladap as Florida Surgeon General on the basis of a series of inept and inaccurate op-eds in the Wall Street Journal. Now Ladap is claiming that the mRNA vaccine alters DNA and that administering it should stop.
not only has he tried to hitch his horse to the stupid wagon, that particular wagon has gone
If DeSantis thought that pandering to stupid narratives would endear himself more to the people of Florida and play well with the wider Republican base as a main strand of his 2024 presidential candidacy he was wrong. In an analysis of issues that Republicans care about Covid-19 and vaccination are nowhere near significant. No health care matters figure in the the list of 16 priorities. So not only has he tried to hitch his horse to the stupid wagon, that particular wagon has gone.
Ron DeSantis has had the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine himself and happily shared that information. He will not confirm or deny whether he has had a booster vaccination. With his public anti-vaccine stance he would readily share the information if he hadn’t had it. Instead he has decided his vaccination is a private matter. We can all draw our own conclusions on the matter of hypocrisy.
Is Ron DeSantis dumb? It is likely that he is not actually dumb. Is he a master strategist playing and manipulating the system? It is probable that he isn’t. It is most likely that he is a mediocre intellect who will connive and manipulate anything to get an advantage. With a broken moral compass, he has no concerns about the impacts of his actions on anyone. Playing to a fanbase of people that would be disregarded by normal people, are there enough selfish and small-minded people who will vote for him? Time will tell.