AG calls for strong leadership, unity during trying years | Palatka Daily News, Palatka, Florida

State Attorney General Ashley Moody addressed about 50 people Tuesday morning at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s about state and national issues.
Palatka Police Chief Jason Shaw talks to Moody, with Putnam County Sheriff Gator DeLoach and retired Florida Adjutant General Douglas Burnett in the background.
State Attorney General Ashley Moody is greeted by Department of Transportation Commissioner and Putnam County resident John Browning before she speaks at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s on Tuesday morning.
Moody says hello to former classmate and Douglas Law Firm attorney Lex Taylor, Putnam County School District Superintendent Rick Surrency and school district Community Relations Director Ashley McCool.
Positively Putnam FL

State Attorney General Ashley Moody was told her visit to Beef ‘O’ Brady’s in Palatka would be for coffee, but the state’s chief legal enforcement official was met by an enthusiastic crowd with dozens of elected representatives in attendance.

With Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” playing on loop, state Sen. Keith Perry and Moody entered the restaurant to greet voters and address their stances on vaccine mandates, mask mandates and Afghanistan.

Moody, who is up for election in 2022, thanked Department of Transportation Commissioner and Putnam County resident John Browning for the invitation.

“I call this a Palatka surprise,” Moody said. “I love it.”

Moody said the nation is reeling from a difficult 18 months that have included the COVID-19 pandemic and protests over the police-involved killing of George Floyd. She said attorneys general in other states supported anti-fascist groups and didn’t uphold the law at a critical time during the unrest.

“You saw buildings being burned down. People’s livelihoods were destroyed,” Moody said. “Cops were attacked.”

A former circuit court judge in Hillsborough County, Moody told the audience her son was in the Army and served in Afghanistan. She said there was a dearth of leadership in Washington regarding the United States’ withdrawal, marred by attacks and confusion.

“There is absolutely no one who can say that the exit strategy or plan was well-developed or executed,” Moody said. “It has devastated us and demoralized us as a nation, and we must demand better and accountable leadership for our military ranks.”

Moody said she is vaccinated, but new federal requirements — where employers with more than 100 employees must make vaccines mandatory or require daily testing — infringe on the rights of the people. Vaccines should be a choice, Moody said.

“It’s unprecedented that a federal government would come in and say, ‘Whatever your state, we’re going to come in and make you do something,’” Moody said. “This is the role of an attorney general, to continually push back.”

Prior to Moody’s comments, Perry, a Republican from Gainesville, said the country is facing strange times in all forms of government. He referred to Gainesville as “San Francisco to the east” due to Gainesville city commissioners enacting a vaccine mandate for employees. Perry said he would not comply with President Joe Biden’s vaccine requirements at his roofing company.

“The city of Gainesville, and I think it’s the reality for other states and certainly the reality of our president, what they think is, you’re not smart enough to make your own decisions, that they are the ones who are competent, that they are the ones who should make decisions for you,” Perry said.