Ashley Walker, who was Florida state director for then-President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, blamed DeSantis for putting his political ambitions — and his desire to appeal to the Trump base — ahead of the wellbeing of the state’s residents.

“It is damaging to Florida that he has taken these positions, because unfortunately people are dying and kids are getting sick and our hospitals are at capacity,” Walker told this column. “In terms of his positions on mask mandates and vaccine passports, I think those are positions consistent with his right-leaning Republican base. So while I think his positions are hurtful and harmful to everyday Floridians, I also think he is making a political calculation.”…

Asked whether he would stick with his current position on mandates, DeSantis’s press secretary Christina Pushaw told this column: “Your question contains the implicit assumption that mask mandates work, but the empirical data says otherwise. There is no conclusive evidence that mask mandates anywhere in the USA have a statistically significant impact on the spread or prevalence of COVID-19.”

Pushaw cited California as one example, given that a statewide mask mandate did not prevent the Golden State from being ravaged by COVID-19.