Fred Piccolo Jr., a spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis, has deactivated his Twitter account. And, according to media reports, he did so after responding to a tweet about those who have died from COVID-19.
Danny Rivero, a reporter for WRLN, screenshotted Piccolo's response to Corrinne Perkins' thread of photos from Reuters, which highlight what she called "the reality of COVID-19 in hospitals across the U.S."
The screenshotted tweet reads "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."
Rivero says Piccolo tweeted this around 4 a.m. Thursday. By Thursday afternoon, his account was deactivated.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Piccolo told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel he had already planned on leaving the social media site.
As of Thursday afternoon, 328,095 people in the United States had died after being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Piccolo became the governor's spokesperson in mid-July, replacing Helen Ferré, the Miami Herald reported.
The Sun-Sentinel says Piccolo has used his personal Twitter account to spread misinformation about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. He's questioned the efficacy of mask mandates and mask-wearing more than a dozen times, according to the news outlet. And, on at least three occasions, he has claimed COVID-19 is less deadly than the flu, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
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