Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took to Twitter on Thursday to praise Phil Mickelson for helping arrange “The Match: Champions for Charity” which will pit Mickelson and Tampa Bay Bucs quarterback Tom Brady against Tiger Woods and former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning at a Florida course on Memorial Day weekend.
Thanks to @PhilMickelson for working so hard to put this together. This will raise millions for #COVID19 relief and will also provide sports fans something to look forward to during this difficult time. https://t.co/ynN6TvFOE2
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 23, 2020
But a number of Florida residents disgruntled with the state’s slow and clunky process for collecting unemployment benefits immediately responded, and they didn’t exactly share the same enthusiasm for the match.
Of the first 53 replies to the DeSantis tweet, 45 were from people railing about the state’s inability to fix its unemployment web site, and criticizing DeSantis for trumpeting a golf match — even if it is for charity.
“I can’t afford cable and I’ll probably have to start selling all my stuff, like my TV … because I’ve been pending on my unemployment since [March 22],” said one person.
“I can assure you, most people would rather know they’ll be getting paid than watch golf,” posted another.
“Ron, I’ll play you 18 holes for my unemployment benefits,” said another poster.
5 weeks and I'm still waiting for unemployment benefits. If I were you, I wouldn't tweet anything other than information on that subject.
— Pj Lindsey (@pj_lindsey) April 23, 2020
The only thing I'm looking forward to is you fixing the broken unemployment system. My claim has been pending for six weeks, the phone lines are down 24/7, emails go unanswered. You're running this state into the ground and you should be ashamed of yourself.
— Phil Incelmo (@WhereDidJennyGo) April 23, 2020
I have never felt the need to send a tweet but today is that day. You have over a million people that haven’t gotten a damn dime to live on in almost 60 days now and this is what you post on social media. What a joke!
— the_lizbeth_who (@WhoLizbeth) April 23, 2020