TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis wants President Donald Trump to consider another Floridian to serve as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director.
After The White House withdrew former Florida Rep. Dave Weldon’s nomination earlier this month, DeSantis has strongly recommended Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who opposed the CDC during the pandemic.
While leading the Florida Department of Health since 2021, Ladapo displayed “the courage and determination to do what’s right when it’s not easy,” DeSantis wrote on X on Sunday, also describing him as a “change agent.”
Ladapo, also a University of Florida professor, contradicted the CDC on guidance related to his concerns on the safety of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and on whether or not students who had not been vaccinated should go to school during the measles outbreak.
Ladapo also sided with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, on the effort to remove fluoride from public water systems, while the CDC has recommended water fluoridation for oral health.
in a statement, Weldon said an assistant at the White House told him his nomination was withdrawn because he had lost votes after he had raised “some concerns about childhood vaccine safety” over two decades ago.
“I unfortunately, am viewed very negatively by the industry that I use on a daily basis to help my patients,” Weldon said adding that he hopes Trump and RFK “can find someone for CDC who can survive the confirmation process and get past pharma and find some answers.”
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