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Team DeSantis fires back at Joy Reid’s race-baiting claim of ‘child abuse’ over black kids with CRT signs

April 25, 2022 | | Print Article

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s team has been busy lately, punching back at Democrats’ scathingly critical claims against his conservative policies on everything from masks to Mickey Mouse, with the latest blow being dealt to MSNBC’s notorious race-baiter, Joy Reid, who accused the governor of using black children as public “props” during his signing of a bill aimed at ending Critical Race Theory in the Sunshine State.

The exchange took place on Twitter, where so many of the culture war battles are fought.

In a tweet Saturday that featured a close-up photo of several black children holding anti-CRT signs behind DeSantis, posted by Florida state Senator Shevrin “Shev” Jones (D), Reid called the “mis-use” of the boys “child abuse” and “extra sick.”

“The fact that @GovRonDeSantis had these Black young men, who are not clear on this message, holding up a sign about something they know nothing about is the real indoctrination,” tweeted Jones, along with the photo.

Quote-tweeting Jones, Reid wrote, “This mis-use [sic] of Black boys is tantamount to child abuse. I would really like to hear the back-story on who these kids were and how they wound up at a DeSantis event. Given how anti-Black DeSantis is, using Black Children this way is extra sick.”

Reid went on to say a “trusted source” told her, “these were not Miami Urban League kids, standing there looking like they were at the dentist. Any Florida journalists have insight into this?”

In a follow-up tweet Sunday, Reid stated she “heard from a Florida source today that these Black boys who America’s most racist governor used as props came from a Miami charter school (I won’t name the school to spare them from MAGA harassment/threats) & that they may not have known in advance why they were there.”

Reid then said she was “working to confirm” her unsubstantiated, inflammatory claims and urged “any parents” of the children who “felt uncomfortable with your child’s participation, or your child felt uncomfortable at the event, please DM me.”

She then asked her followers to refrain from posting the name of the charter school if they know it, because, “These kids have been through enough.”

Reid ended her lengthy thread by stating that DeSantis “needs to be clear on this point: we in the majority intend to protect our kids, of every race, gender identity and orientation, religion and ethnicity. We will protect their right to learn, to read, to watch cartoons, and to BE. We will protect them from YOU.”

Well, if Joy really wanted to dig to the bottom of the anti-CRT boys, she may have wanted to hold off on her passionate allegations and pick up a phone.

Had she called DeSantis’s spokesperson, Christina Pushaw, she would have quickly learned how wrong her sources were.

So, Pushaw responded to Reid with her own tweets.

“I was working at this event and helped with the set up,” Pushaw said. “My colleague talked to all the kids beforehand & told them what the issue was & what bills DeSantis was signing. Hundreds of people attended this event; those ~50 who ended up on stage freely chose to stand on stage.”

Pushaw then shared a photo of the children taken immediately following the signing.

“Here are the same kids (on the left hand side) excited to get the pen from @GovRonDeSantis after he signed the bills.”

The Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act — or, Stop WOKE — became law on Friday and bans the teaching of divisive Critical Race Theory lessons to children.

“We are not going to categorize you based on your race,” DeSantis said. “We are not gonna tell some kindergartener that they’re an oppressor based on their race and what may have happened 100 or 200 years ago. And we’re not gonna tell other kids that they’re oppressed based on their race.”

Melissa Fine
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