Lemme just wipe this big, ol’ grin offa my face and I’ll tell you about how the swift and mighty swords of the DeSantis response team are claiming another set of media heads.
(That almost needs to be set to music…)
And I’ll let you know right out the box, what she said is not going to be enough.
This whole thing started a little less than a week ago when NBC’s Andrea Mitchell sat down with the second most inert member of the Biden administration (next to Pothole Pete), vapid response specialist Vice President Harris. In doe-eyed, most sincere reporterly fashion, Mitchell asked the VP why the racist governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, didn’t want the state’s children to be taught “about slavery.”
Andrea Mitchell spreads some fake news, asking Kamala Harris, “Let me ask you, what does Governor Ron Desantis not know about black history and the black experience when he says that slavery and the aftermath of slavery should not be taught to Florida schoolchildren?” pic.twitter.com/Kd7EIECdUy
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) February 17, 2023
Mitchell wondered why DeSantis is legislating about things he allegedly knows nothing about,
“Let me ask you, what does Governor Ron DeSantis not know about black history and the black experience when he says that slavery and the aftermath of slavery should not be taught to Florida schoolchildren?”
Mind you, Harris does nothing to correct Mitchell either.
Incensed, DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin fired back at the blatant gaslighting…
…and helpfully provided a link to those, in point of fact, detailed and comprehensive state requirements, which include this bullet point:
…Instructional personnel may facilitate discussions and use curricula to address, in an age-appropriate manner, how the individual freedoms of persons have been infringed by slavery, racial oppression, racial segregation, and racial discrimination, as well as topics relating to the enactment and enforcement of laws resulting in racial oppression, racial segregation, and racial discrimination and how recognition of these freedoms has overturned these unjust laws.
Hardly sounds as if nothing about slavery is being taught or anything restricted, right?
This is another one I particularly liked:
Students shall develop an understanding of the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping on individual freedoms, and examine what it means to be a responsible and respectful person, for the purpose of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic values and institutions.
That’s nicely put, no?
So Mitchell’s entire opening gambit was a bald-faced lie, a proven one, and neither she nor her employer addressed any bit of it, even in the face of growing outrage. I can only guess that they think so little of DeSantis (we all know their opinion of their own importance) that ignoring him might just make all the noisy nasty people go away. Course of least resistance, if you will.
MSNBC on Monday failed to correct a false statement made last week by host Andrea Mitchell, who inaccurately claimed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is attempting to prevent slavery from being taught in public schools.
…Monday’s edition of “Andrea Mitchell Reports” was the first installment since MSNBC viewers were misinformed by the namesake host, but Mitchell neglected to issue a correction or apology.
MSNBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ah…nyet.
No worries. The DeSantis team relentlessly kept pinging away, like a medieval torture press…
Well, I did tell Andrea Mitchell’s executive producer that she not only lied to the American people, but she lied directly to the Vice President of the United States.
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) February 18, 2023
…tightening the screws…
.@mitchellreports, @MSNBC will you be correcting the record? Never too late for the truth. https://t.co/nmNRGr0wq1
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) February 21, 2023
…until suddenly, just this morning, there was movement in the enemy camp. A Mitchell sighting, on TV, addressing the interview and is it an apolo…
Oooo! Dang. SO close.
Once again, @mitchellreports is “imprecise” in her description because she relies on unnamed “historians and teachers.”
Florida statute requires the teaching of slavery and its aftermath. We just know that “queer studies” has nothing to do with Jim Crow.https://t.co/tHKJW30L9l pic.twitter.com/h6l1RDsC4f
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) February 22, 2023
She was “imprecise” in her language, and Gov DeSantis is “not opposed to teaching the FACT [emphasis hers] of slavery in schools,” but the “governor opposes” books that “historians and teachers say…” argle-bargle-BS-bargle. She’s trying to do an end run while doubling down, and DeSantis Deputy Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern truth nails her, brutally.
After that miserable exercise in arrogance, subterfuge, and evasion, if I bet on more than the occasional Mega-Millions, I’d say patience has probably run out in the DeSantis camp. Lemme go check.
Um…yup.
OF COURSE, YOU REALIZE THIS MEANS WAR
To all of the bookers and producers reaching out to our office from @NBCNews and @MSNBC for @GovRonDeSantis to join your shows, this will be the standard response from our office until @mitchellreports apologizes and your track record improves. pic.twitter.com/8kQcLLEVzW
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) February 22, 2023
Mitchell and the bosses need to start ordering ice for the burns coming their way.
While they’re at it, they should figure out how to say, “Our bad” as quickly, thoroughly, and unambiguously as possible. Enunciate clearly – it’s in your best interests if you are still, even remotely, a news organization.
It’s no skin off of DeSantis and his team’s noses if NBC/MSNBC and affiliates spend their days dying of news thirst in the wilderness. Griffin, Redfern, Pushaw, et al, have the patience of Job, are as heartless on offense as Okeefenokee alligators, and strike like fact lightning.
You’re not going to win this one.
