DeSantis says ‘we didn’t pick the fight’ on Florida slavery curriculum

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said he did not “pick the fight” over the state’s new curriculum on slavery, which calls for students to be taught that enslaved people “developed skills” that some used for their benefit, that has stirred widespread controversy. 

DeSantis said in an interview with Bret Baier that aired Monday on Fox News that Vice President Harris has lied about what the state’s standards are. Harris slammed the curriculum earlier this month during a visit to Florida in which she accused “extremists” of trying to “push propaganda” to students, while DeSantis has said the curriculum is being misrepresented. 

“We didn’t pick the fight, Bret,” DeSantis said. 

“You can’t bend the knee to the left’s lies. When the left lies and creates these phony narratives, you’ve got to push back,” he added. 

Harris is not the only prominent official who has criticized the standards, with the curriculum also yielding attacks from several Black Republicans serving in Congress. 

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), another presidential candidate, denounced the standards on multiple occasions, saying that no “silver lining” exists to slavery and that the institution is “antithetical to who we are.” 

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and DeSantis’s campaign clashed after Donalds said he supported the “vast majority” of the curriculum and considered it “good, robust & accurate” but took issue with an “attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery.” 

Aides to DeSantis accused Donalds of taking talking points from Harris and other members of the Biden administration. Donalds said he was surprised to receive criticism over his comments, posting online, “Anyone who can’t accurately interpret what I said is disingenuous and is desperately attempting to score political points.” 

Reps. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) and John James (R-Mich.) also criticized the standard. 

The curriculum requires teaching on race to be “objective” and not “indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view.” One part requires instruction on “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” 

DeSantis said in the interview that the adoption of the curriculum was a public process in which objections could have been raised previously. He said Republicans should have pushed back against Harris’s comments. 

“What Republicans should have done is push back against her, say ‘You’re operating in bad faith,’” he said. 

DeSantis has said students are to be taught under the provision that enslaved people received the skills in spite of slavery, not because of it.