Progressives want Donald Trump to win the GOP nomination, which explains why they’re distorting Ron DeSantis’s Covid record. The press knows the Florida Governor’s opposition to lockdowns is a political selling point, so in Trumpian fashion they are rewriting history.

Democrats have never forgiven Mr. DeSantis for defying the lockdown consensus and reopening his state in spring 2020. Americans can recall—though would probably rather forget—how the Trump Administration extended its “15 days to slow the spread” again and again.

Mr. DeSantis and some other GOP Governors, notably Brian Kemp in Georgia and South Dakota’s Kristi Noem, broke ranks in early May by easing virus restrictions. Democrats denounced Mr. DeSantis for “letting it rip,” but he reopened the state in phases and took into account the healthcare system’s capacity to treat sick patients.