On Wednesday, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo—Gov. Ron DeSantis’ choice to continue being Florida’s surgeon general—advanced on to the next state Senate committee. The Tampa Bay Times reports that Democratic state Sen. Lauren Book informed the panel that the four Democrats on the panel would not vote on Ladapo’s confirmation, and walked out in protest. “We don’t feel that we’re getting any answers. The Florida Senate Democrats in this committee now are going to abstain, walk out, and come back when we have more business.”
It was about as much as they could do as they are the minority on the panel and the six remaining Republicans voted to advance Ladapo’s nomination. It is important to note that Ladapo was asked very simple and easy-to-understand questions regarding vaccines, COVID-19, and public health in general that he not only would not answer, he seemed unable to string together something that bears the resemblance to an answer from an adult.
Asked if he might believe that “vaccines in fighting a pandemic like COVID-19 are effective,” Ladapo literally, verbatim, said this:
You get that? No? You think I maybe transcribed it wrong? [Don’t fear, you get to watch it at the end] Sen. Lauren Book also had a hard time following whatever that was, and urged Dr. Ladapo to respond clearly: “Just a ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ do vaccines work in fighting against COVID-19? Yes or no?”
She even used one hand to represent “yes” and the other hand to represent “no,” just to make sure the doctor understood.
That’s verbatim because he’s legit developing a stutter just for these questions. Sen. Book went in again and Ladapo finally admitted in a wildly long-winded way, that Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines have shown that they help prevent hospitalizations.
Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo is a gross human being whose scientific understanding of vaccines and public health seems to begin and end with the belief that even though masks mitigate the spread of COVID-19, he is unwilling to wear one because he finds it hard to “communicate clearly and effectively with people” if “half of my face is covered.” That’s what he told reporters after he refused to wear a mask to meet with Florida Sen. Tina Polsky—who is undergoing breast cancer treatment.
The fact that he hems and haws around the simple question of whether or not vaccines are an effective tool in fighting against COVID-19 is unconscionable. In Oct. 2021, Ladapo penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, wherein he argued that “Vaccines are up to the person. There’s nothing special about them compared to any other preventive measure.”
That isn’t a true statement. It is refuted by any and all scientific evidence we have on the current crop of vaccines and COVID-19. Ladapo is either a liar, or he’s not intelligent and informed enough to handle the job of being the doctor of my daughter’s dolls, let alone human folks.
He isn’t alone. The entire Republican Party has fallen under the con of the fascist anti-science, pro-oligarchy death cult that is the anti-vaxxer movement. But like all things Republican, Florida just seems to know how to do it with a flair for spectacle.
Later on, Ladapo was given a chance to talk abut his qualifications. It was like watching someone get a first job interview after submitting a fabricated resume.
And finally, Democrats leaving the floor said, “We figured we come back when it’s time to deal with real business.”
It was about as much as they could do as they are the minority on the panel and the six remaining Republicans voted to advance Ladapo’s nomination. It is important to note that Ladapo was asked very simple and easy-to-understand questions regarding vaccines, COVID-19, and public health in general that he not only would not answer, he seemed unable to string together something that bears the resemblance to an answer from an adult.
Asked if he might believe that “vaccines in fighting a pandemic like COVID-19 are effective,” Ladapo literally, verbatim, said this:
You get that? No? You think I maybe transcribed it wrong? [Don’t fear, you get to watch it at the end] Sen. Lauren Book also had a hard time following whatever that was, and urged Dr. Ladapo to respond clearly: “Just a ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ do vaccines work in fighting against COVID-19? Yes or no?”
She even used one hand to represent “yes” and the other hand to represent “no,” just to make sure the doctor understood.
That’s verbatim because he’s legit developing a stutter just for these questions. Sen. Book went in again and Ladapo finally admitted in a wildly long-winded way, that Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines have shown that they help prevent hospitalizations.
Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo is a gross human being whose scientific understanding of vaccines and public health seems to begin and end with the belief that even though masks mitigate the spread of COVID-19, he is unwilling to wear one because he finds it hard to “communicate clearly and effectively with people” if “half of my face is covered.” That’s what he told reporters after he refused to wear a mask to meet with Florida Sen. Tina Polsky—who is undergoing breast cancer treatment.
The fact that he hems and haws around the simple question of whether or not vaccines are an effective tool in fighting against COVID-19 is unconscionable. In Oct. 2021, Ladapo penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, wherein he argued that “Vaccines are up to the person. There’s nothing special about them compared to any other preventive measure.”
That isn’t a true statement. It is refuted by any and all scientific evidence we have on the current crop of vaccines and COVID-19. Ladapo is either a liar, or he’s not intelligent and informed enough to handle the job of being the doctor of my daughter’s dolls, let alone human folks.
He isn’t alone. The entire Republican Party has fallen under the con of the fascist anti-science, pro-oligarchy death cult that is the anti-vaxxer movement. But like all things Republican, Florida just seems to know how to do it with a flair for spectacle.
Later on, Ladapo was given a chance to talk abut his qualifications. It was like watching someone get a first job interview after submitting a fabricated resume.
And finally, Democrats leaving the floor said, “We figured we come back when it’s time to deal with real business.”