Christina Pushaw, press secretary to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), posted to Twitter on Thursday the biased questions she received from a Washington Post reporter asking about HB 1557, known as the Parental Rights in Education bill.
The bill, which has also been falsely called the "Don't Say Gay" bill by liberals and the mainstream media, prevents discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with students below third grade. The word "gay" does not appear a single time in the bill.
Despite this, the Post reporter asked Pushaw some of the following questions:
- Why do you believe the bill would reduce the likelihood that a child would potentially be groomed by a sexual predator?
- Do you believe that those who teach sex education to younger grades seek to sexually abuse students?
- Do you believe that those who oppose the bill support child sex abuse?
Pushaw said the reason for posting the questions she received online was because "I don’t trust the Washington Post to cover this story accurately or fairly":
THREAD ?? I was contacted by a national reporter from the Washington Post with these questions today about Parental Rights in Education.
— Christina Pushaw ???? (@ChristinaPushaw) March 24, 2022
Since I don’t trust the Washington Post to cover this story accurately or fairly, I am going to share the email & my response for transparency pic.twitter.com/B4X5mpXkXf
Pushaw further posted her response to the reporter, which included how the Post has been instrumental in misleading people about what the bill actually is by uncritically referring it as the "Don't Say Gay" bill.
"Most people who actually read the bill, including 52% of Florida Democrat primary voters, support it — because they oppose the idea of schools instructing kids in K-3 about topics like sexual orientation and gender transition," she wrote.
My response to the Washington Post: pic.twitter.com/Mn7MgapmOn
— Christina Pushaw ???? (@ChristinaPushaw) March 24, 2022