Chuck Todd, host of NBC’s "Meet the Press," accused Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., of politicizing Florida schools after promoting plans for an annual lesson on the impact of communist regimes.
Todd spoke with a panel on the possibility of DeSantis becoming the Republican nominee for president in 2024. While they speculated that DeSantis is being positioned as an alternative to former President Trump, Todd questioned whether DeSantis is planning on "talking to swing voters" after what he said while appearing in Las Vegas on Saturday.
"We're also the first state in the country to establish every November 10, the day in our schools is earmarked to teach our students at all grade levels about the evils of communist regimes throughout history we're going to tell the truth about Marxism and Leninism," DeSantis said.
Todd suggested that this initiative in particular appears to be DeSantis "going out of his way" to politicize teaching.
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"You know, Jonathan, it's sort of like, look, being a Floridian, I sort of know what he's trying to play there and all of that. But I would tell him, I went to Florida public schools. We were taught this. It was called history. It just seems like a weird politicizing—you know he's going out of his way to politicize something," Todd said.
DeSantis originally announced legislation that would require high school students to learn about "the evils of communism and totalitarian ideologies" in civics courses back in 2021.
In May, he also signed a bill designating Nov. 7 as Victims of Communism Day. The bill required at least 45 minutes of class time instructing students on communist regimes such as the Soviet System and the Chinese Cultural Revolution as well as the people who suffered under them.
Politico senior political columnist Jonathan Martin agreed that DeSantis was politicizing the issue because countering "wokeism" is the only unifying Republican force.
"Donald Trump is to Democrats what wokeism is to the GOP, and it is the singular cohesive, unifying force, okay? The backlash to the perceived excess of the left which is basically what wokeism is, is what galvanizes the GOP. It’s not any policy agenda. It’s that, so of course, he is playing into that," Martin claimed.
Political activist María Teresa Kumar, however, suggested that "wokeism" is actually a political agenda that should be embraced by the Democratic Party.
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"Oftentimes people say that DeSantis is a strong opponent to the Democrats because he is where woke goes to die, and the challenge that he doesn’t realize is that woke is what got Americans ACA. Woke is what basically wants to make sure people have gay marriage. Woke is giving women agency over their bodies and woke is making sure a child in a classroom is not fearful that they’ll lose their life and that is juxtaposed to what the majority of Americans actually want," Kumar said.
"It sounds like you think that Democrats should take back woke rather than ignore the attacks," Todd replied.
"Corporations, actually want woke, right? They don’t want a DeSantis regulating what they can and cannot say. Look at what’s happening with Disney right now. This is an opportunity for them to not only reclaim it, but to recognize it is actually their strength. It is what got Joe Biden to the White House because it animated not just women and it animated a whole generation of young people," Kumar responded.
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DeSantis has frequently touted Florida as the place where "woke goes to die," most notably leading up to his re-election as governor in November where he won by a double-digit margin.
