Salty Florida Mayor Lashes Out At 'Spoiled Child' DeSantis After Getting Snubbed
He's not happy right now.
A South Florida mayor is not happy with the governor right now. Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez called out Gov. Ron DeSantis after he was blocked from a COVID-19 meeting for city mayors. It's the latest in a spat between the two officials.
"I think it's childish on behalf of the governor to not invite the mayor of the sixth-largest city in the state and the second-largest city in the county," Hernandez said outside the conference to Miami Herald, going on to say that the disinvite is a "lack of respect" to Hialeah.
"We have time to play childish games? That shows why we are in the situation that we are," he added.
The City of Hialeah equally felt slighted by the governor's lack of invitation, putting out a spicy press release that hinted that the governor was treating the city's residents like "third-class citizens."
"Governor DeSantis has treated the residents of Hialeah like third-class citizens by not allowing us to participate in such an important meeting."
All of their ire wasn't just at DeSantis. There was some heat directed at Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez as well.
"There is no justification for what occurred today and even less so by the Mayor of Miami-Dade County, Carlos Gimenez, that allowed for this to happen," the City wrote.
The meeting in question was a conference between DeSantis and the mayors of Miami-Dade County, who used the time to make their cases for more state resources to help battle COVID-19.
Miami-Dade leads the state in the total amount of novel coronavirus cases, with 69,803 recorded as of Wednesday.
For his part, DeSantis said he didn't know why Hernandez wasn't invited to the conference, saying that he'd been made aware of the severity of the outbreak there and would be "happy to meet with him."
As for the situation on the ground, the mayors all agreed that if the numbers don't improve soon, more drastic measures
could be taken, including another stay-at-home order for the county.
"If the situation proceeds and moves forward in the wrong direction, we may have to take additional steps," Mayor Gimenez said.
He, and the others in the room, further emphasized the need for the public to be responsible citizens.