‘Stop COVID Theater,’: DeSantis Tells Students To Take Off Masks While Visiting University [VIDEO]

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told students to take off their face masks when he visited the University of South Florida in Tampa for a press conference on Wednesday, WFLA reported.

As he took the podium to announce funding for cyber education, DeSantis told a group of students behind him who were wearing masks, “You do not have to wear those masks. I mean, please take them off. Honestly, it’s not doing anything and we’ve gotta stop with this COVID theater. So if you want to wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous.”

The governor then shook his head in apparent frustration before starting his press conference, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. At least two of the students removed their masks after his scolding.

DeSantis made several moves in the last year to block mask mandates, including signing an executive order to deny schools state funding that impose them, WFLA reported