Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced during a live segment on Wednesday night’s episode of Fox News’ ‘Ingraham Angle’ that he will be granting clemency to any Florida resident charged with violating pandemic restrictions.
Surprising show guests Mike and Jillian Carnevale, who were arrested three times in Broward County for allowing people to exercise at their gym without wearing face masks, the governor revealed he will be using his constitutional authority to pardon anyone who was a victim of the government’s “total overreach”.
“I’m glad you have Mike and Jillian on, and I’m also glad to be on to be able to say that effective tomorrow morning, I’m going to sign a reprieve under my constitutional authority,” said DeSantis.
“So that will delay the case for 60 days against both of them, and then when our clemency board meets in the coming weeks, we’ll issue pardons for not only Mike and Jillian, but for any Floridian that may have outstanding infractions for things like masks and social distancing,” the governor promised.
DeSantis added public health mandates for social distancing and mask wearing “should be advisory,” not “punitive”.
The governor’s latest action is in line with his anti-lockdown approach to the coronavirus pandemic in Florida.
Just last month, he suspended all remaining restrictions by local governments. He also banned vaccine passports, barred local officials from legally enforcing Covid mandates, and was one of the first states to fully reopen last year.
