TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Charlie Crist blasted Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo on Monday, calling him a “quack” and “partisan ideologue” after the Florida Department of Health (DOH) recommended against COVID-19 mRNA vaccines for men aged 18–39.
DOH made the announcement on Saturday in a press release linked to Ladapo’s tweet, citing an analysis that found an “84% increase in the relative incidence of cardiac-related death among males 18-39 years old within 28 days following mRNA vaccination.”
“Our quack Surgeon General Ladapo is back with more misinformation. When I’m governor, I’ll appoint a surgeon general who isn’t a partisan ideologue and who will provide sound medical advice,” Crist tweeted. In his tweet, Crist was responding to news that Twitter had removed Ladapo’s post due to “misinformation.”
TWITTER CENSORS ANNOUNCEMENT
Saturday was not the first time Ladapo’s stance on the polarizing shot went against the grain. The surgeon general has been an advocate for healthy lifestyle habits, natural immunity and various alternative treatments for mitigating the effects of the virus. In May, he announced the DOH’s recommendation against giving the vaccine to healthy children.
DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin called the censorship “an unacceptable and Orwellian move for narrative over fact” in a tweet.
Twitter restored the post on Sunday morning.
LADAPO RESPONDS TO CRITIQUES
In a Twitter thread, epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz called the DOH analysis “extremely misleading” and “very deceptive,” but acknowledged that the three statements summarizing the main findings were all true.
On Monday morning, Ladapo tweeted his own thread addressing “the more substantive critiques.”
Before sharing his responses, the surgeon general wrote: “I love the discussion that we've stimulated. Isn't it great when we discuss science transparently instead of trying to cancel one another?”
