GOP Governors' Hypocrisy on COVID Endangers Their Citizens

There's no little irony in one of the most rabid Republican governors, who has railed against masks and mandates, becoming infected with COVID. While I don't particularly wish ill on them, I find the hypocrisy of many governors' responses (especially Abbott, DeSantis, and Noem) particularly disturbing.

Greg Abbott ranks at the top of my list. He had been "fully vaccinated" against COVID but tested positive on August 17. The night before, he had spoken to a large, mostly maskless crowd at a campaign event.

Abbott's spokesperson said the governor was asymptomatic. Yet Abbott promptly received a third vaccine booster, something not available to mere peons, and he received Regeneron, the monoclonal antibody cocktail of casirivimab and imdevimab.

Ben Carson, Chris Christie, and Rudy Giuliani all followed in Donald Trump's footsteps in imbibing monoclonal antibodies that had been difficult for non-VIPs to have access to. The drug is available under an EUA (emergency use authorization) and is indicated for those at "high risk for progression to severe COVID-19." It is not yet fully FDA approved. No publicly available information shows that Abbott meets any criteria to receive Regeneron, other than being a wealthy and well-connected politician.

Meanwhile, there is a crisis in Texas, with cases surging. ICUs are more than 91% full, and many hospitals report no beds.

Abbott has asked for out-of-state help as the state does not have enough healthcare workers. He has done everything but the one thing that would be most helpful: have mask mandates. Abbott has not only not called for universal masking, but he has also done the opposite, banning mask mandates. Even after his diagnosis, entrenched Abbott insisted that there would not be mandates because "now is the time for personal responsibility⁠."

Fortunately, there are rational grown-ups in some areas; Dallas, Houston, Austin, and Fort Worth are refusing to endanger children by banning mask requirements in schools. San Antonio is even suing the state over this dangerous policy.

But Abbott is further endangering children by gutting basic public health epidemic control tactics.

Gov. Ron DeSantis appears to be in a competition with Abbott for most dangerous governor. Florida has gone one step further than Texas, approving "private school vouchers if parents say children feel bullied by a district's mask-wearing rules." The most plausible hypothesis I've seen for this is that "The GOP is weaponing [sic] Covid to destroy public education."

DeSantis has been actively promoting the use of Regeneron (> $1000/per pop) in recent weeks — again while railing against cheap masks. Do you think it a coincidence that Citadel CEO Ken Griffin has donated $10.75 million to a political committee that supports DeSantis ($5.75 million in 2018 and $5 million last April)? The hedge fund just happens to hold $15.9 million in shares of the Regeneron company.

Abbott has done other egregious things — for example, he also signed an executive order that prohibits "counties, cities, school districts, public health authorities, or government officials — from requiring or mandating mask wearing." Officials who try to do what's right, and violate this, may be fined $1000.

In his latest Napoleonic decree, in response to the FDA granting full approval to the Pfizer COVID vaccine, Abbott has banned "government entities" from requiring COVID vaccinations.

As of August 24, Texas has had 3,488,035 cases reported and 55,719 deaths. Florida is not far behind.

It's obvious that Greg Abbott — and Ron DeSantis — have presidential aspirations. How many bodies will they climb over to get there?

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Cite this: Judy Stone. GOP Governors' Hypocrisy on COVID Endangers Their Citizens - Medscape - Sep 01, 2021.