DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday attended a ribbon cutting ceremony to announce a gas station and convenience store chain that's opening locations in the Sunshine State.
Buc-ee's, which is based in Texas, recently opened stores in Daytona Beach and St. Augustine.
"This is like the Shangri-La of service stations," DeSantis said at a news conference in Central Florida. "You have all these people, both local and visitors, that are gonna be coming down this way. What better place to stop than here?"
The governor used Monday's ribbon cutting ceremony to once again stress that he has no plans to lock down Florida to control the spread of the coronavirus.
"If you look around the country, you have businesses closing in a lot of these states," DeSantis said. "Florida, we have businesses opening. New businesses opening."
DeSantis praised Florida's unemployment rate which, at 4.8%, is lower than the national average of 6.2%.
"If we had 9% or 10% unemployment in this state, can you imagine how many lives would be destroyed with that if you had locked everybody down and destroyed all these businesses and cost all these jobs?" DeSantis said.
The governor has been critical of a recently suggestion by President Joe Biden who, earlier this month, said that America may have to impose a new round of coronavirus-related restrictions if citizens don't do their part by getting vaccinated, wearing face coverings, washing your hands, and staying socially distant.
"If we don't stay vigilant and the conditions change, then we may have to reinstate restrictions to get back on track," President Biden said. "And please, we don't want to do that again."
Buc-ee's was founded in 1982 and is "committed to providing a clean, friendly, and in stock experience for our customers," according to the company's website.