On Tuesday night, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has staunchly opposed the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) in Florida schools, gave a terse summation of what he thought of it, asserting, “We’re happy to have banned it in Florida,” and adding that it was “poison.”
Sean Hannity of Fox News prompted DeSantis by saying, “You said the woke class wants to teach kids to hate each other rather than teaching them how to read. We’re not going to let them bring nonsense ideology into Florida schools. You love the state; you love the country. And it’s unthinkable: There are people in positions of leadership in the federal government who believe that we should teach kids to hate our country. We’re not going to stand for it in Florida. Tell us why.”
“First of all, Sean, we’re happy to have banned it in Florida,” DeSantis answered. “It’s not going to be allowed in Florida classrooms. Spending tax dollars to teach kids that America is a rotten place is absolutely unacceptable. If you look at how some of this stuff manifests itself in classrooms, that we have seen examples of, it’s not a conspiracy theory, dividing kids based on race, trying to say some are oppressors and some are oppressed based on race. Attacking law enforcement and saying law enforcement attacks people based on race. Those things are poison.”
“That is not what we should be doing,” he continued. “What we should be doing is solid curriculum based on the actual facts of American history and teaching kids what it means to be an American. And part of what it means to be an American is we judge people, not on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character.”
Hannity asked DeSantis why there were vast differences between red states and blue states regarding critical race theory, state income taxes, inheritance taxes, law and order and shutdowns. DeSantis replied, “Part of it is we have a conservative approach. They have a left-wing approach. But I think some of this, Sean, is just common sense.”
When Hannity suggested that people in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, California are moving to Florida to leave their leftist policies behind, DeSantis stated, “Well, the good thing is a lot of them are leaving because of those radical policies, and they’ve actually been repelled, and they’re coming because we are an oasis of freedom. So I think that that’s really a good sign.”
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hannity: One governor, by the way, who has become a beacon of hope for Americans in Florida and beyond: Governor Ron DeSantis. He’s standing up against Critical Race Theory, against rioting, lawlessness, and against lockdowns. He’s joining us tonight with reaction. Governor, good to see you. Thank you for being with us. Let me read what you said about critical race theory. You said the woke class wants to teach kids to hate each other rather than teaching them how to read. We’re not going to let them bring nonsense ideology into Florida schools. You love the state; you love the country. And it’s unthinkable: There are people in positions of leadership in the federal government who believe that we should teach teach kids to hate our country. We’re not going to stand for it in Florida. Tell us why.
DeSantis: Well, first of all, Sean, we’re happy to have banned it in Florida. It’s not going to be allowed in Florida classrooms; spending tax dollars to teach kids that America is a rotten place is absolutely unacceptable. If you look at how some of this stuff manifests itself in classrooms, that we have seen examples of, it’s not a conspiracy theory, dividing kids based on race, trying to say some are oppressors and some are oppressed based on race. Attacking law enforcement and saying law enforcement attacks people based on race. Those things are poison. That is not what we should be doing. What we should be doing is solid curriculum based on the actual facts of American history and teaching kids what it means to be an American. And part of what it means to be an American is we judge people, not on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character.
Hannity: You know, I look at Florida, where I’m leaning heavily to moving very soon. And I look at your state against critical race theory; you have no state income tax; you have no inheritance tax. You are for law and order and you reward good policing to keep people safe and secure. You go down the list; you didn’t have draconian shutdowns. This is, there’s such a dramatic difference now emerging between red states like yours and blue states like New York, California, New Jersey and Illinois. How do you reconcile these differences
DeSantis: Well, I think part of it is we have a conservative approach. They have a left-wing approach. But I think some of this, Sean, is just common sense. For example, we have the lowest per capita tax burden in the country. But the reason that we are doing well is because people respond to that; they want to live in a place that’s well-governed with low taxes. So we actually now are collecting more revenue than we can forecast or even keep up with, with those lower rates. And it’s all about understanding that you’re trying to expand your economic base. Obviously things like law and order. Those are just common sense things that you have to do; if you don’t have public safety, you don’t really have anything. And then, of course, making sure we have good curriculum in schools; protecting things like women’s athletics, which we were able to do, I signed a bill a couple weeks ago. We really believe that on the key issues that matter for Floridians, we’re leading and we’re getting things done.
Hannity: You know, when you look at the differences, especially like with California, today’s the first official day that they’re reopening the state, but they’re not really fully reopening the state. Then they’ve adopted these COVID passports. I noticed there’s a little bit of a controversy emerging with the cruise line industry, which is big in Florida. And to your credit, by the way, you’ve been fighting for them to get back online as quickly as possible. A lot of jobs are at stake; a lot of money for Florida’s economy at stake. Yet some of the cruise lines want these passports or vaccination proof and you’ve held the line; you said no passports.
DeSantis: Just understand Sean, CDC has shut the cruise lines down for over a year, we sued CDC to be able to get them off of this so that the cruise lines could function in Florida. Of course, they’re going to have to do it consistent with Florida law. We are not allowing discrimination based on vaccination status. What the CDC wants to do is effectively ban young kids from cruises because they’re not even eligible to get vaccinated. And yet they would count that against the cruise ship. So our view is, non discrimination. Understanding kids should be able to go on and also understanding people have recovered from COVID and also are immune and they may not have taken the vaccine at that point. So we think that that’s better than forcing people to divulge private health information and discriminate against people who may have had reason not to get the vaccine.
Hannity: Governor, I would say this to people in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, California that are moving to Florida: I know you welcome them with open arms. I would just like to request on your behalf that they leave their radical leftist liberal socialist policies in the state they come from and don’t bring that voting record with you and ruin the new state that you’re going to. I think that’s a fair request. I hope you agree with that.
DeSantis: Well, the good thing is a lot of them are leaving because of those radical policies, and they’ve actually been repelled, and they’re coming because we are an oasis of freedom. So I think that that’s really a good sign.
Hannity: And by the way, you spend half as much as New York with no income tax and better infrastructure. I think that speaks volumes. Governor, good to see you. Thank you.
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