As cases pile up, DeSantis follows Trump

President Donald Trump delivered his wishes on Twitter in all caps with three exclamation marks — “SCHOOLS MUST REOPEN IN THE FALL!!!”

Just hours later, the Florida Department of Education ordered school districts to prepare for inperson instruction five days a week.

The state’s announcement blindsided Fedrick Ingram, who leads the Florida Education Association. He said his union representing 150,000 school employees had no formal involvement or input into the order.

He doesn’t think it’s a coincidence the order to reopen schools signed on Monday came on the same day as the president’s tweet.

“Our governor has tied himself politically to the president,” Ingram said. “We have seen that time and time again in terms of the policies he has rolled out and how he has handled this pandemic. It is unfortunate in this country we do educational policy by tweet.”

It’s a frequent criticism leveled at Gov. Ron DeSantis as he leads Florida through the coronavirus pandemic: DeSantis is taking his cues from Trump instead of listening to people in his own state.

DeSantis’ deference to Trump hasn’t gone unnoticed by some voters in an election battleground that will play a pivotal role in the outcome of this year’s presidential contest.