MSNBC host Joy Reid said Tuesday on her show “The ReidOut” that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is turning Florida into a “right-wing fantasy land” in hell.
Reid said, “We begin tonight in the not-so-free state of Florida, where in the year 2023, it’s probably easier to get a gun than it is to get a history book. Right now, Florida Republicans, led by Governor Ron DeSantis, are trying to push through a bill that would eliminate concealed weapons permits, calling the right to bear arms, quote, ‘central to our freedom.’ Those same lawmakers have simultaneously cracked down on other freedoms, like children’s freedom to read books. The Washington Post is reporting today that school officials in at least two Florida counties, Manatee and Duval, have directed teachers this month to remove or wrap up their own classroom libraries until the books are vetted for appropriateness under state law.”
She continued, “Teachers who display or give a student a book deemed un-allowed could face up to five years in prison. You heard that right—five years in prison for handing a child a book. And in case you’re wondering what falls under the umbrella of inappropriate for school children by Florida standards, activist Brandon Wolf points out that one of the books rejected by Duval County schools is The Life of Rosa Parks. What DeSantis is doing is intentional. In order to peel off Trump’s Republican voters and get them on this side ahead of his presidential bid in 2024, he’s turning Florida into a right-wing paradise where the focus isn’t on health care or jobs or taxes or infrastructure, or I don’t know, hurricane or flood insurance in one of the most natural disaster-prone states in the country. You know, normal governor stuff. But rather on the right-wing culture wars and nothing but the right-wing culture wars. And he’s ticking all the boxes.”
Reid added, “Not only is he banning books about history and any mention of the existence of gay people from Florida schools, he’s barring public high schools from teaching AP African American studies. He’s taking aim at drag performances, even suggesting that he would urge the state’s child protective services to investigate parents who take their own kids to one. He’s actively trying to ban COVID vaccine mandates and restricting mask rules while at the same time calling for probes into supposed wrongdoing linked to the vaccine. And he’s doing all of this while making sure that anyone can walk around with a gun, no permit required. It’s a right-wing fantasy land — like Disney World but in hell. Come to Florida, the meanest place on earth.”
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