WATCH: Governor DeSantis defends plan to keep Florida open for business

DeSantis spoke to Floridians from Okeechobee Steakhouse in West Palm Beach, an iconic restaurant in the area which has been around since 1947.

Florida has been criticized by leaders of other states for refusing to shutter its economy and force its residents to stay home and indoors.

DeSantis said he is committed to not following the examples of some other states which are enacting stricter lockdowns.

"We're happy to be here at Okeechobee Steakhouse to really send a message that at a time when folks in our service industries, particularly restaurants, lodging, and hospitality, have kind of taken it on the chin, particularly in other states, where they’ve been completely shut down. We just want to send a message: Some may want to shut you down; we want to pull you up. We’ve got your back."

"If you’re somebody who’s a waitress or a cook or you’re a family-owned business, you’re an important part of our state. You’re working folks, who are working hard to make a living; you have every right to do that. You can take it to the bank in the state of Florida; you’re going to have that right defended by the governor."

"You know, there’s a lot of talk when it comes to COVID about the kind of infections, and tracing and everything, and at the beginning of this, restaurants in particular were singled out as kind of like, this is a place that’s really problematic. Most of the contact tracing that’s been done has restaurants as very low in terms of where these infections can be traced to. New York just did their big one and put it out I think yesterday or the day before, and they had 1.4 percent of infections traced to restaurants and bars."

"But here’s the thing: even if you think that it’s more than 1.4 percent, the appropriate response to that is to inform people about situations where you may have a higher risk, not to shut down. Let individuals make decisions about what they’re comfortable doing. I can tell you, we’ve worked with these folks across Florida, and I know Okeechobee’s no different: they put every effort to creating a safe environment and a healthy environment. They’re not going to get customers unless they do that, and I know that that’s what they’ve done here at Okeechobee Steakhouse."

"And so we’re coming up on Christmas; it’s an important time of year for a lot of people, and we just want to let people know that if you’re somebody who’s been working hard, you’re a worker in one of these industries, we’re standing with you 100 percent. We know what you’ve done; we know what you’ve sacrificed, but we also know how much these jobs mean to you and how much these industries mean to the state of Florida."