File photo of Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis asked a group of students at a press conference to remove their face masks. The comments made on Wednesday have led to a huge debate on Twitter.
"You do not have to wear those masks," the governor said to students standing behind him. He told students their mask wearing is "Covid theatre".
“Honestly, it's not doing anything. We've got to stop with this Covid theatre. If you want to wear it, fine. But this is, this is ridiculous,” the governor said.
DeSantis was at the University of South Florida to announce funding for cybersecurity education.
Some students listened to him, while others kept wearing their masks.
The video quickly went viral and a number of people - including reporters - have shared it on Twitter. Users slammed the Republican for his views.
“This is how you end covid,” said Antonio Montana.
Some Twitter users, however, welcomed the remarks. “Now this is the man!” said Sean Kim.
Another user said: “People who endorse governors bullying children have mental health problems.” A tweet in response said: “Bullying? Did you listen when he said they could wear the "ridiculous" face masks if they wanted? These students have been bullied into getting injections they don't need, but telling them to take off a useless face mask is "bullying"?”
DeSantis has in the past made his displeasure with facial masks known. He made some moves to block mask mandated, even signing an executive order withholding government funds for schools that impose them.
In February, DeSantis said parents should be given the power to sue schools which force children to weak masks.
According to Florida's health department, the state reported 25,640 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of February 18 to February 24.