FACT CHECK: Is This Chinese Restaurant Sign About Ron DeSantis Real?

An image shared on Facebook allegedly shows a Chinese restaurant sign saying “F*** DeSantis” and offering a discount for customers with proof of vaccination.

Facebook/Screenshot

Verdict: False

The sign, which is fake, comes from a sign generator website that allows users to customize the name of the Chinese restaurant and its message.

Fact Check

Starting Sept. 16, Florida will fine businesses, schools and government agencies $5,000 if they ask visitors to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination, the Associated Press reported. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May had signed a law banning them from requiring such documentation and enabling the state’s health department to impose fines on those who violate the prohibition, according to The Hill.

Amid the news of the fines, a picture allegedly showing a profane sign from a Chinese restaurant called Phoenix Koi started circulating on social media. The purported sign reads, “Lunch: $150 (Get 95% Off With Vacc. Card!) F*** DeSantis.” (RELATED: Did Ron Desantis Pose For A Photo Holding Up This Anti-Mask Shirt?)

Various iterations of the picture of the Chinese restaurant sign have circulated on the internet since at least 2008 with text expressing different sentiments, a reverse image search shows. The sign sporting the message about DeSantis and vaccination cards is not authentic.

That sign appears to have been created using a Chinese restaurant sign generator website. The generator allows users to pick the name of the Chinese restaurant and write up to four lines of text. One instance of the “F*** DeSantis” sign has garnered over 127,000 views on the image-sharing website Imgur.

As of Sept. 9, about 54 percent of Florida’s population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data published by The New York Times.