MSNBC's Joy Reid: Ron DeSantis, Republicans 'killing children' with pandemic policies

MSNBC host Joy Reid and a pair of ex-GOP guests accused Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of "killing children" Tuesday over his stance against coronavirus measures like mandating masks in schools.

In two separate Tuesday segments first flagged by NewsBusters, Reid, the Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson and The Bulwark's Tim Miller fumed over the approach to the pandemic by some Republicans, suggesting they just wanted to "own the libs" at all costs, that DeSantis was only focused on his political future and that they were just "letting children die." 

In the first segment, Reid played a video clip of DeSantis discussing his stance against mask mandates for children in schools before asking Wilson to respond.

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"What you have seen here in Ron DeSantis is a breathtakingly cynical line. He's running for president in 2024-28 depending on whether Donald Trump dies of filet-o-fish poisoning," Wilson said, apparently referencing former President Donald Trump's fast food habits.

"He is doing this for politics exclusively, and he is trying to tell local school boards … what they're going to do and not do," he added, before praising various school board decisions to require masks for children in schools. 

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Wilson claimed that DeSantis' Wednesday schedule didn't include any calls to health officials related to the pandemic and that he was going on a "Ron DeSantis love me tour" around the state. 

"I think it's possible he just doesn’t give a damn. I think it's possible he just doesn’t care," Wilson added, before claiming that previous Florida governors "would have done the right thing." 

"Amen," Reid said in apparent agreement.

"They all gave a damn about the people of Florida and they were going to do the right thing. This guy – he doesn't care. He cares about his political future," Wilson said. 

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In the later segment, Reid asked Miller to explain what the strategy would be behind "killing children in your own state and letting children die of Covid." 

"I think the strategy, as macabre as this sounds, is project strength at all costs, own the libs at all costs. And that’s what it comes down to," Miller said. "It doesn’t come down to policy. They’re not counting the numbers of how many people are dead or alive. They're not concerned about the well-being of their own citizens."

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"It's how can I project that I'm against Joy Reid, that I'm against Dr. Fauci, that I'm against the elites, that I'm against the people on the coast, and the Brown folks and the Black folks? That’s it. That's all this is about. They're doing that at the expense of their own citizens. And here is the other thing, Joy: they know better," he added. 

"Yes," Reid said in agreement.