The Doctor Giving DeSantis’s Pandemic Policies a Seal of Approval

MIAMI — Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo has come out strongly against mask mandates and lockdowns, only supports vaccination campaigns if the shots are voluntary and will not say whether he himself has been vaccinated.

But in pushing for State Senate confirmation of Dr. Ladapo as Florida’s next surgeon general, Gov. Ron DeSantis has found a partner in fighting what Dr. Ladapo calls the policies of “fear.”

For a Republican governor whose brash opposition to conventional public health wisdom has helped fuel obvious presidential ambitions, the appointment of Dr. Ladapo signals Mr. DeSantis’s determination to continue powering through a pandemic that has already cost 68,000 lives in Florida — this time, with what the governor can claim is a medical seal of approval.

The Florida Senate confirmed Dr. Ladapo’s appointment on Wednesday by a 24-15 vote, with all Republicans voting in favor over strong objections from Democrats.

The DeSantis doctrine has asserted that older people should be protected from the virus but that younger people who are less at risk should do as they wish. Otherwise, the psychological and economic effects might be too damaging, both for individuals and for Florida’s cachet as a mecca for tourism and international business.

“Telling the truth, I think, is important, and I think that’s what Dr. Ladapo understands,” Mr. DeSantis said in selecting the former researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, to run the Florida Department of Health. “You’ve got to tell people the truth, and you’ve got to let them make decisions.”

But when it comes to the warped politics of the pandemic, few agree on the truth.

Mr. DeSantis has built his political brand as a fighter, especially against Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s top medical adviser on the pandemic. Dr. Ladapo has helped Mr. DeSantis bolster his stance as a governor unafraid of living with the virus.

Florida ranks among the 20 worst states for its pandemic death rate and among the 12 worst for its case rate, but Mr. DeSantis has argued that the state also suffers when its economy and schools are restricted.

Some of Dr. Ladapo’s positions, like his opposition to lockdowns and mask-wearing in schools, have been conservative stances for some time and are beginning to be accepted by liberal leaders now that more people are vaccinated and cases are plummeting. But these views were relatively rare among physicians in charge of public health policy at the time he was espousing them.

To like-minded scientists who felt that their dissenting views had been silenced, Dr. Ladapo’s move from researcher to policymaker gave hope for those who hold views outside the mainstream.

To scientists appalled by Florida’s hands-off approach to the virus, Dr. Ladapo’s ascent cemented their belief that public health had become entrenched in the nation’s polarized politics.

Dr. Ladapo’s predecessor, Dr. Scott Rivkees, a surgeon general with more conventional views, had all but vanished from public view since warning early on in the pandemic that masking and social distancing would need to last for at least a year. Since his appointment, Dr. Ladapo has been a fixture…