Florida Governor Ron DeSantis refused to answer whether or not he has received a COVID-19 booster shot during a press conference on Friday, after former President Donald Trump called politicians who don't publicly disclose their booster shot status 'gutless.'
'That's something that I think people should just make their own decisions on,' DeSantis said.
'I'm not gonna let that be a weapon for people to be able to use. I think it's a private matter.'
DeSantis had dodged the same question last month, weeks before Trump's comments this month.
'I've done whatever I did,' DeSantis told Fox Business Network. 'The normal shot.'
The Republican governor received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine early last year.
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Pictured: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at a press conference on Friday, where he refused to reveal whether or not he received a COVID booster shot
Donald Trump looks on as Ron DeSantis speaks during the Florida Homecoming rally at the BB&T Center in 2019
Pictured: Florida COVID-19 numbers, showing a massive spike on January 7 earlier this month, with 78,449 new cases recorded that day alone
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Meanwhile, the booster shot has become a point of contention for some Republicans, with Trump and DeSantis recently locking horns as the two current front-runners for the GOP presidential candidacy in 2024.
A few weeks prior to DeSantis' press conference, Trump took aim at 'gutless' politicians who refuse to reveal their booster shot status, while announcing he had received his own booster shot.
'Well, I've taken it. I've had the booster. Many politicians – I watched a couple of politicians be interviewed and one of the questions was, "Did you get the booster?" – because they had the vaccine – and they're answering like – in other words, the answer is "yes" but they don’t want to say it,' Trump told One America News Network on January 11.
'Because they're gutless. You gotta say it – whether you had it or not. Say it.'
Florida, like most states, has been hit hard by the virus as cases spiked due to the Omicron variant. There were 80,951 new infections reported on Friday - nearly half as many as the
