In 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis solidified his position as the most based human being on the planet with a direct assault on those pushing COVID-19 vaccine mandates. He did so in the midst of a political environment where other Republicans were folding like wash and wear suits, noting that “we’re a free state” in Florida.

Since then, the governor’s cachet among the public has only grown as he’s taken on numerous, high-voltage issues. More recently, he won a fight to ban the sexualization of young children in public schools, an issue that put him on a collision course with Disney. The multiple-billion company likely regrets how that played out given its recent troubles.

On Tuesday, based DeSantis returned in a scathing rebuke of the Biden administration and the mainstream media’s criticism of Florida for not recommending the vaccination of infants from the coronavirus. Over the course of four minutes, the governor lit into the lies told, while standing firm in the face of even Republican complaints that he didn’t get the state involved in the distribution of the shots.

Gov. Ron DeSAVAGE goes FULL-BLAST on Biden White House, legacy media over vaccines for BABIES pic.twitter.com/QVB6sMnozM

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 21, 2022

It is incredibly rare to see a GOP politician not take the easy way out, and to be sure, the easy way out here would have been to just have the state order the shots. After all, 49 other states did so, and a lot of those are led by Republicans. Instead of following the pack, though, DeSantis correctly stated that the data does not back up giving infants and toddlers the COVID-19 vaccines, a position he’s staked out without the benefit of any cover.

That’s a deeply respectable thing to witness. Yes, because it’s rare, but also because it’s right. We should not be shooting small children up with drugs based on what amounts to societal pressure. There’s a reason, as DeSantis points out, that European countries aren’t doing so. Some have even banned the use of the Moderna vaccine because of the possible side effects.

Children enjoy a near-zero statistical risk from COVID-19, and certainly, that should play a role in determining public policy. For DeSantis it has, and he’s following the facts when most won’t because with real leadership comes criticism.

In his response, the governor even manages to hit Dr. Anthony Fauci, noting that he and the rest of the Biden administration rejected the idea of natural immunity for years. But now we are supposed to trust them on whether these vaccines are necessary for babies? What person in their right mind would take that stance?

But where DeSantis truly differentiates himself is that he didn’t just choose to not get the state involved in this farce. As he mentions in the clip, the State of Florida actually recommends against vaccinating small children because the data shows there is no benefit. That’s a politically tenuous position for him to stake out, but again, DeSantis cares about doing what’s right, not making the beltway happy. In the end, that’s going to pay off big time for him in November, and if I’m making predictions, it’ll pay off for him further down the road as well.