Vice President Kamala Harris has been getting in front of every camera she can find lately to forcefully condemn Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida’s new black history curriculum, claiming that Sunshine State wants to teach its children that black people “benefited” from slavery. The VP has been heavily criticized for her inflammatory and misleading claims, with a conservative CNN panelist saying it was “completely a fabricated issue.”
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.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 24, 2023
Now DeSantis is calling her bluff, inviting her down to Florida to personally discuss the curriculum while also hysterically mocking the fact that President Biden in 2021 put her in charge of the border, but she has done nothing to solve the problem:
NEW: FL Gov @RonDeSantis has invited VP Kamala Harris to meet with him in FL to discuss the state’s new black history curriculum, which she has criticized as “propaganda”. Says he’s ready to meet as soon as Weds., unless she has “a trip to the southern border planned that day.” pic.twitter.com/pxe6KVbQfJ
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 1, 2023
It’s a pretty brutal letter, and it manages to slip in a few sharp digs at the Vice President while “pretending” to be cordial. It starts out nicely enough:
Dear Madam Vice President:
Florida is the number one state in the nation for education. We’ve achieved this by making record investments in our students, teachers, and schools and by enacting universal school choice. Our approach has empowered parents and families, who are actively disenfranchised in many other states around the nation. But we’ve also secured the top spot nationally in education by returning to the fundamentals.
He goes on to describe how Florida has rooted out “hateful Marxist theories” like Critical Race Theory (CRT) as well as the “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI) initiatives in schools and has instead focused on “the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic, science, civics and history.” You know, like actual subjects that could be useful in one’s life.
But then the governor goes on the offense:
Yet, time and time again, D.C. politicians choose to malign our state and its residents. Over the past several weeks, the Biden administration has repeatedly disparaged our state and misinformed Americans about our education system. Our state pushed forward nation-leading standalone African American History standards—one of the only states in the nation to require this level of learning about such an important subject.
One would think the White House would applaud such boldness in teaching the unique and important story of African American history.
But instead, you have attempted to score cheap political points and label Florida parents “extremists.” It’s past time to set the record straight.
Kamala Harris: Spends a week lying about Florida, even flying to Jacksonville to lie in person.
Media: Why is Ron DeSantis attacking her? https://t.co/9WsZCZV8lq
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) July 28, 2023
But no, the White House couldn’t possibly applaud a red state; instead, as Bonchie pointed out, they instead obsessed over a single line in 200+ pages of curriculum detailing the horrors of slavery. (That line reads: “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some cases, could be applied for their personal benefit.”)
It’s at this point in the letter that DeSantis gets a little cheeky, inviting her to come down and discuss her “grave concern (which, I must assume, is sincere)” and to bring along Randi Weingarten, the far-left head of the teachers union, should she so desire. He ends with a mic drop:
I am prepared to meet as early as Wednesday of this week, but of course want to be deferential to your busy schedule should you already have a trip to the southern border planned for that day. What an example we could set for the nation—a serious conversation on the substance of an important issue!
I hope you’re feeling up to it.
“I hope you’re feeling up to it.” I just love that.
This is a brilliant letter, in my humble opinion. Not only is it amusingly jabbing at the gaffe-prone VP, but it calls out the administration’s bluff and basically says, “If you mean what you say, come back it up.”
One reason Californians are concerned about the possibility of a presidential campaign by Governor Gavin Newsom is that I believe he would accept this challenge if it were at thrown at him. He appeared on “Hannity” recently, something no other Democrat would even dream of doing, and although I was dismayed by Sean Hannity’s softball questions, Newsom managed to come across as a decent and reasonable guy (two things he most certainly is not).
Kamala will almost certainly ignore this letter or use it to try and claim to a fawning press that it’s further proof of DeSantis’ extremism, or perhaps she’ll claim she’s the victim of harassment. But one thing is certain, she has neither the verbal nor intellectual skills to actually back up her misleading and offensive claims, so I can pretty much guarantee she’ll be a no-show.
But good on DeSantis for calling her out on her BS.