Ron DeSantis took it as a compliment. "Well, to the contrary, I think those are badges of honor to have him attacking me, and he was also doing it publicly," DeSantis said. He would come down to Florida and do hits on local news, saying you know that we were doing it wrong. "He would attack Florida for having our beaches open, for example, or Memorial Day parties that people were doing, and that's what happens in Florida," DeSantis said. DeSanti's was never a big fan, arguing Fauci's was "practicing political science rather than evidence-based medicine" during the early onset of the virus.