Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday ripped a reporter after he peddled fake news about the parental rights bill in the state legislature, which leftists have mischaracterized as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
WFLA’s Evan Donovan asked DeSantis about the measure during Monday’s press conference, noting that “critics” refer to the legislation as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
“Does it say that in the bill?” DeSantis asked, repeating the question: “Does it say that in the bill? I’m asking you to tell me what’s in the bill, because you are pushing false narratives. It doesn’t matter what critics say.”
“It says it bans classroom instruction on sexual identity and gender orientation,” the reporter replied as DeSantis continued to set the record straight.
“For who? For grades pre-k through three — 5-year-olds, 6-year-olds, 7-year-olds. The idea that you wouldn’t be honest about that and tell people what it actually says– it’s why people don’t trust people like you, because you peddle false narratives,” DeSantis said, triggering applause.
“We’re going to make sure that parents are going to be able to send their kids to kindergarten without having some of this stuff injected in their school curriculum,” he added.
Indeed, leftists have falsely labeled the measure the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, despite the fact that it does not mention “gay” or any specific sexual orientation. Simply put, the measure states that a school district “may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.” It does not single out “gay,” and it applies to children in primary levels.
Yet state Democrat lawmakers are continuing to push the false narrative, as Florida Senate Democrats on Monday posted a video of state Senators Janet Cruz, Loranne Ausley, Tina Polsky, and Lori Berman joyously singing a gay chant:
This is not the first time DeSantis has addressed members of the establishment media for pushing misleading narratives. He faced a similar question last week and provided a similar answer.
“And so you actually look at the bill, and it says no sexual instruction in grades pre-k through three. And so how many parents want their kindergarteners to have transgenderism or something injected into classroom instruction? And so I think those are very young kids. I think the legislature is basically trying to give parents assurance that, you know, they’re going to be able to go and this stuff’s not going to be there,” he said, adding that there is “nothing in the bill that says anything about you can’t say or this say.”