To become president, DeSantis has to ratchet up covid infections, hospitalizations and deaths

Tho he still claims to be a Trump supporter, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants to replace him as GOP standard bearer in 2024.

His campaign strategy is to coop Trump's pandemic denial. He's not only demanding freedom to skip masking and vaccinations, he's forbidding school districts and businesses from imposing mask mandates or requiring vaccinations.

He terms all such measures as Democratic governmental overreach.

While its too early to tell if this will propel DeSantis to the GOP nomination in '24, it's already having devastating effects on Floridians health. Hospitalizations are up seven fold there since mid June and the Florida infection rate is nine times that of New York.

Maybe his campaign slogan for '24 should be: 'Let Floridians die so DeSantis can live...in the White House.