DeSantis blasts 'media lies' about Florida's education policies: 'Book ban hoax'

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DeSantis calls media's narrative on Florida education policies a 'book ban hoax'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hit back at media "narrative" on Florida's education policies, saying the press has created a "book ban hoax" and misrepresented what state schools are allowed to teach.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., slammed the media for lying to create a false narrative around his decision to ban critical race theory and queer theory in Florida A.P. African America Studies.

"You have the reporter saying that 'Governor DeSantis does not want students to learn about slavery and its aftermath.' Well if you actually looked at what our standards are, not only is it not prohibited to teach that, it's required to teach that," DeSantis said, hitting back at what he called "basically media lies."

The governor's comments come after outlets have reported he was trying to prevent students from learning black history, but DeSantis claims only "woke" curriculums were removed from Florida schools.

"We are required to teach all aspects of black history, not queer theory, but actual aspects of black history... They are lying to you," DeSantis said.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis waves as he speaks to police officers about protecting law and order at Prive catering hall on February 20, 2023 in the Staten Island borough of New York City. DeSantis, a Republican, is expected by many to announce his candidacy for president in the coming weeks or months. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)  (Spencer Platt)

MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson recently claimed that DeSantis is "happy with Black people being murdered on a regular basis," in response to Florida's curriculum adjustment.

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Johnson also suggested that DeSantis' revision was aimed at "protecting bigoted adults," rather than for Florida students.

"They are doing that to try to create a narrative, they're not doing that because Florida has a law," DeSantis hit back on Thursday. "They're doing it because they know there is enough people in corporate media who will just take that, and run with that… if it is explicit and pornographic, parents have the right to object."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to the Republican Jewish Coalition annual meeting at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 19, 2022. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)  (Nathan Posner)

The governor claimed the College Board’s original version of the course was "pushing an agenda" that Florida would not tolerate.

"This course on Black history, what’s one of the lessons about? Queer theory. Now, who would say that an important part of Black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda," DeSantis said.

MSNBC political contributor Jason Johnson slammed people who want education reforms in Florida against CRT. (MSNBC )

John Hope Bryant, an MSNBC guest panelist and Operation Hope founder, recently said that DeSantis was "stoking fears" and taking us back in history.

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"You cannot decide which part of the history you want to learn about. All of our history is rich and important," Bryant said. "This is uh, 1960 all over again. This is 1865 all over again, where we’re stoking fears, deciding we are separate," he added.