COVID-19 tweet prompts DeSantis spokesman to delete account

Fred Piccolo, spokesman for Gov. Ron DeSantis, deactivated his Twitter account Wednesday after he tweeted in the middle of night that photos of each dead COVID-19 victim should be balanced with 99 photos of people who survive the disease.

In response to a Reuters photo gallery on COVID-19, Piccolo wrote, “I’m wondering since 99% [of ] Covid patients survive shouldn’t you have 99 photos of survivors for every one fatality? Otherwise you’re just trying to create a narrative that is not reality.”

According to screenshots captured by Miami Herald reporter Ben Conarck and WLRN reporter Danny Rivero, Piccolo was responding at about 4 a.m. to a tweet by Corinne Perkins, the North America editor for Reuters Pictures.

“This thread is dedicated to those saying we aren’t seeing images of the reality of COVID19 in hospitals across the U.S.,” Perkins wrote. “This is not an exhaustive list but I wanted to highlight the stories@ reuters pictures photographers bring to light .”

The thread included pictures of victims, despondent doctors and nurses, grieving families, and overwhelmed funeral homes over the course of the pandemic, which has killed almost 328,000 people in the U.S. as of Wednesday.

Piccolo’s tweet drew an almost immediate angry response.

“Survive? I have friends who ‘survived’ who have hair falling out and can’t walk across a room without getting winded,” read one reply.

“Do some math for me, Fred. How many people is 1% of 330 million?” read another.

“‘Creating a narrative that is not reality’

Piccolo