Where’s Ron?

Looks like the Ron DeSantis: America’s COVID Governor victory tour has been suspended again:

As Florida reported nearly 47,000 new coronavirus cases, again shattering its single-day record since the start of the pandemic, Democrats and critics called on Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to do more to address the state’s spike in infections driven by the highly-transmissible omicron variant.

The state on Wednesday reported 46,923 new cases from Tuesday, as the omicron surge nearly doubled Florida’s previous peak over the summer. The state, which broke the record for new daily infections that was just set on Christmas Eve, is now averaging more than 30,300 new covid-19 cases a day, according to data tracked by The Washington Post — second in the nation to New York.

While deaths continue to decline in Florida — an average of 18 a day as of Wednesday — the number of cases has exploded by 182 percent compared to the previous seven-day period. Florida now has reported 4 million total cases since the pandemic began, joining California and Texas as the only states with at least 4 million coronavirus infections since 2020.

“We have not received any assistance from the state of Florida at our testing sites,” he said on Tuesday. “Our residents, all Florida residents, should be outraged and they should ask the question, ‘Where is our state? Where is our governor? Where is Ron DeSantis now?’”

DeSantis, one of the most prominent Republican critics of President Biden’s handling of the pandemic, has not made a public appearance since a Dec. 17 news conference, according to Florida Politics. DeSantis also appeared on Fox News on Dec. 19, saying that he had yet to receive a coronavirus booster shot.

It might be a few weeks before the parade of fawning tributes to DeSantis’s rakish nihilist charm can begin again! The search for a Reasonable Alternative to Trump Because There’s Gotta Be One is a difficult one, my friends.