Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
The Florida Legislative Black Caucus says Vice President Kamala Harris made the right call when she refused Gov. Ron DeSantis’ challenge to a debate on the state’s controversial new African American history standards.
In a Thursday news release, FLBC Chair and Tampa Democratic Rep. Dianne Hart said the Governor’s debate pitch was little more than a Hail Mary from a floundering presidential campaign.
“It is obvious that he is not serious about defending or explaining the lies of these standards because not once has he or his office reached out to the members of the FLBC to discuss this curriculum. Not during the formulation nor prior to the implementation. If he is serious about having an actual conversation and hearing why slavery provided no benefit to enslaved people we welcome the opportunity,” Hart said.
DeSantis issued the challenge after Harris excoriated the new standards during a swing through Jacksonville last month. She and others have zeroed in on a line in the standards that requires instruction on how “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
The Governor, Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. and others in the DeSantis administration have staunchly defended the curriculum. They have doubled down even when faced with criticism from other Republicans, such as U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds. Donald, who is Black, said the standards were “good, robust, and accurate” but added, “the attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong and needs to be adjusted.”
Harris flatly refused to debate DeSantis, who is running to kick President Joe Biden out of the White House and her out of the Naval Observatory. “I tell you there is no roundtable, no lecture, no invitation we will accept to debate an undeniable fact. There were no redeeming qualities of slavery,” she said.
Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones also backed up the VP, saying “DeSantis is drinking his own Kool-Aid if he continues to claim that enslaved people benefited from slavery and that Florida is number one in the country for education.”
Jacksonville Democratic Sen. Tracie Davis added, “This Governor has proven, without fail, that he has no interest in protecting Black history, no interest in helping Floridians, and absolutely no interest in anything beyond his ridiculous presidential ambitions.
“Vice President Harris had every right to deny his farce of a debate. Florida’s Commissioner of Education already has a Task Force of African American History experts who were not consulted — instead, the job was given to a group of empty yes men and a conservative think tank. If we’re looking for ‘indoctrination of students,’ maybe the Governor should look in a mirror.”
Evening Reads
—“Donald Trump’s jury pool for Jan. 6 trial: A city that remembers the attack” via Amy Qin of The New York Times
—“‘The worst Trump could’ve got’: lawyers spill on his Jan. 6 judge” via Adam Rawnsley of Rolling Stone
—”There is no First Amendment right to overturn an election” via Ian Millhiser of Vox
—“Ron DeSantis agrees to take on Gavin Newsom in Fox News debate” via Kim Bellware of The Washington Post
—“DeSantis vows to start ‘slitting throats’ on first day of presidency” via James Bickerton of Newsweek
—”DeSantis campaigning last week promised (presumably metaphorical) blood will flow if he’s elected” via Michael Moline of the Florida Phoenix
—“DeSantis’ state-funded office hires ousted campaign aides” via Sofia Cal and Alex Thompson of Axios
—”Casey DeSantis raised $63M for Hurricane Ian relief. Where did it go?” via Skyler Swisher of the Orlando Sentinel
—”Referred to as ‘Co-Conspirator 1’ in an indictment of Trump, Rudy Giuliani faces an uncertain legal future.” via Jonah E. Bromwich of The New York Times
—“College Board says Florida schools may not offer AP psych without gender lessons” via Jeffrey S. Solochek of the Tampa Bay Times
—”How the recession doomers got the U.S. economy so wrong” via Derek Thompson of The Atlantic
—”The tragedy of being a new mom in America” via Anna Mutoh of The Wall Street Journal
Quote of the Day
“She was quite nice and polite. She let me do everything by Zoom. She granted a motion, an extension on time to report because of [my client’s] job. But she is of the opinion that these people need to go to prison.”
— Attorney John R. Osgood, on the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 election conspiracy case.
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
