Ron DeSantis insists his police hiring spree has nothing to do with scooping up officers who left their jobs over vaccine requirements

• DeSantis has been rounding up out-of-state law enforcement officers to join Florida departments.
• The governor said that “Nobody should lose their job based on [COVID-19 vaccine mandates].”
• He insists that his call for more officers “has nothing to do with their vaccination status.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Sunday that he is “actively working to recruit out-of-state law enforcement” who have decided to leave their departments in protest of vaccine mandates but said during a press conference on Monday that his call-out was not strictly for unvaccinated officers.

“It’s for officers, period. It has nothing to do with their vaccination status,” DeSantis said in response to a reporter who asked about his recruitment of unvaccinated law enforcement officers. “We all know corporate media lies, OK? Assume what they tell you is false,” he added.

“Nobody should lose their job based on these injections,” he said to Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo on Sunday during “Sunday Morning Futures.”

DeSantis also said that he will be working to offer $5,000 bonuses to law enforcement officers who move from out of state to join law enforcement agencies in Florida, Insider previously reported.

“If you’re not being treated well, we will treat you better here,” DeSantis said. ‘You can fill important needs for us, and we’ll compensate you as a result.”

His call for out-of-state law enforcement officers was announced in August.

According to National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, COVID-19 was the leading cause of death for officers in 2020, The Washington Post reported.

DeSantis, who is vaccinated against the virus and says that the shot is a personal decision, has in the past also blocked Florida school district mask mandates.

DeSantis’ office did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.