While speaking to National Conservatism Conference in Aventura, Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis (R) mentioned a number of issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic where he bucked the national trends, Fox News reports.

“We rejected the elites, and we were right,” DeSantis said, according to the Daily Caller. “Not only were they wrong about [closing] schools, the elites were wrong about lockdowns, they were wrong about epidemiological models and hospitalization models, they were wrong about forced masking, they were wrong when they rejected the existence of natural immunity, they were wrong about the efficacy of the mRNA vaccines, and they were wrong when – and I said this – that COVID was seasonal, and now they admit it.”

DeSantis also took aim at powerful corporations and those who cater to them.

“Corporatism is not the same as free enterprise, and I think too many Republicans have viewed limited government to basically mean whatever is best for corporate America is how we want to do the economy,” the governor said.

“My view is, obviously, free enterprise is the best economic system, but that is a means to an end. It’s a means to having a good and fulfilling life and a prosperous society. It’s not an end in and of itself,” DeSantis added. “The United States is a nation that has an economy, not the other way around, and our economy should be geared for helping our own people.”