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Florida Governor DeSantis Clashes With Biden-Harris Over African-American History Standards

DeSantis accuses Harris of lying about Florida's educational standards, while Harris criticizes history rewriting.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came out all guns blazing in taking on President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, his running mate in the 2024 campaign, as the vice president slammed the state administration’s new “African-American history standards” that were adopted this week.

Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivers remarks at the 2023 Christians United for Israel summit on July 17, 2023, in Arlington, Virginia. For this year’s summit, CUFI hosts 2024 Republican presidential candidates hopefuls to speak amidst other pro-Israel activists. (ANNA MONEYMAKER/GETTY IMAGES) 

The Florida governor made a campaign stop in Utah on Friday attacking the Biden administration over Black history standards.

“Democrats like Kamala Harris have to lie about Florida’s educational standards to cover their agenda for indoctrinating students and pushing sexual topics onto children,” DeSantis tweeted Friday.

DeSantis enacted the Stop WOKE Act in Florida that would regulate content prohibiting employees and students sharing past virtues of race, sex, and national origins.

Florida’s law prohibits schools from teaching critical race theory to students, which is codified for schools from K-12.

AP African American Students is currently not being offered in high schools in Florida.

“Florida stands in their way, and we will continue to expose their agenda and their lies,” he said.

US Vice President Kamala Harris and Israeli President Isaac Herzog (out of frame) speak to the media prior to a meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, July 19, 2023. (SAUL LOEB/GETTY IMAGES)  

He also said the “Harris-Biden administration is obsessed with Florida,” while ignoring the chaos at the border, crime-infested cities, economic malaise, and the military recruitment crisis.

“Maybe if Biden’s granddaughter moved to Florida, he’d actually visit her,” DeSantis said.

During her keynote address at the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.’s national convention in Indianapolis, Harris took potshots at the Florida State Board of Education for alleged history rewriting, omitting crucial facts, and avoiding uncomfortable topics until higher grades.

One of the new standards sought by the state requires instruction on how slaves developed skills, which in some instances, could reapply for their personal benefit.

Harris said in her Thursday’s address, “Just yesterday in the state of Florida, they decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it.”

Later on Friday in a speech in Florida, the vice president said, “We know the history. And let us not let these politicians who are trying to divide our country win.”

“They are creating these unnecessary debates. This is unnecessary to debate whether enslaved people benefited from slavery. Are you kidding me? Are we supposed to debate that?” she added.

Produced in association with Benzinga

Edited by Alberto Arellano and Joseph Hammond

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