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WaPo One of Many Examples Showing How Far the Left is Willing to Go to Blame Everything on DeSantis

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  April 24, 2022 6:30 PM

Democrats, the mainstream media, and woke corporations have shown their affinity to blame everything on Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). It happened during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, and now it's also happening with DeSantis having signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law. On Friday, the governor also signed into law a bill that ends the special status for Disney World when it comes to taxes and autonomy, in addition to a law banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools and corporate settings.

Timothy Bella with The Washington Post on Friday morning, wrote "Family allegedly attacked and blinded man, claiming he ‘made’ son gay."

The details are complex and tragic as it is, but Bella felt the need to insert the Parental Rights in Education bill into his coverage:

LGBTQ issues have been at the forefront of debate in Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) earlier this month signed into law the Parental Rights in Education bill, which critics have labeled the “don’t say gay” law. The measure bans instruction or classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity issues in kindergarten through third grade and also empowers parents to sue a school district over teachings they don’t like. 

LGBTQ advocates say the measure furthers efforts in the state to paint the LGBTQ community as “other,” or even dangerous, and gay rights groups have sued Florida over the law, arguing that it violates the constitutionally protected rights of free speech, equal protection and due process of students and families. But DeSantis and Republicans have stood firm in defending the law, with the governor arguing that it protects against “sexualizing kids in kindergarten.”

As Bella himself quotes DeSantis as saying, the law has to do with concerns of "sexualizing kids in kindergarten." Nobody in the story, though, about a gay man being beaten and as a result being blinded, is a child. There is also no mention of the gay couple in the story having a child together, which would potentially have some relevancy, as lawsuits have come forth by parents in same-sex relationships who argue their children are affected. 

Further, the alleged attack occurred last August and is being reported on now because the victim did not come forward sooner, which the alleged perpetrators are cited as bringing up in their defense to claim they are innocent. 

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Christina Pushaw, Gov. DeSantis' press secretary, tweeted about the coverage, as she pointed out that the law and the details of this crime are not relevant. 

The outlet has harped on DeSantis before with regards to the law. Taylor Lenz, who wrote a hit piece for The Washington Post doxxing the creator of the Libs of Tik Tok Twitter account touched upon Florida. The Libs of Tik Tok shares content from all over the country, though, not just from Florida.

Lorenz's coverage mentioned:

...She also began posting about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), calling him “actually brilliant.” 

By March, Libs of TikTok was directly impacting legislation. DeSantis’s press secretary Christina Pushaw credited the account with “opening her eyes” and informing her views on the state’s restrictive legislation that bans discussion of sexuality or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, referred to by critics as the “don’t say gay” bill. She and Libs of TikTok have interacted with each other at least 138 times publicly, according to a report by Media Matters. When asked by The Post about her relationship with the account, Pushaw wrote, “I follow, like and retweet libsoftiktok. My interactions with that account are public," and added that she’s a strong supporter of its mission.

Pushaw also tweeted about Lorenz, including when it comes to sharing emails between her and Lorenz. 

When it comes to the law DeSantis signed about keeping CRT out of classrooms, NBC News on Wednesday, published a column by Dennis Aftergut. The former prosecutor claimed that "Ron DeSantis has taken Trump’s playbook — and made it much more dangerous."

Aftergut wrote, with original emphasis:

Certainly, what’s happening now in Florida looks a lot like the thought control that has happened in totalitarian societies. Whether in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany or today’s China, the banning of books is a central strategy for strongmen. DeSantis has no qualms using that playbook if he thinks it will benefit him politically. 

And it very well may be benefitting him politically.

...

Meanwhile, DeSantis’ political star is on the rise. His favorables among independents are above 60 percent, according to a March 25 McLaughlin & Associates’ poll. The conservative National Review’s editor, Rich Lowry, has an explanation: DeSantis comes “without the distracting obsessions of the former president.”

Keep that in mind as you consider areas where DeSantis presents an even clearer present and future danger than Trump does.

...

Consistently, where Trump has sown divisive messages, DeSantis has added to the harm by turning them into real (state) policy. Putting aside his divisive proposals on race, he’s also attacked the LGBTQ community and engendered a cruel homophobic backlash. On March 28, DeSantis signed a law that prohibits instruction or teacher-led discussion on sexual orientation or gender identity “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” (The law prohibits all such classroom instruction in kindergarten through third grade.) 

The legislation shows a politician ready to parlay anti-gay bias into votes by marginalizing youth and reinforcing what up until a few years ago felt like grossly outdated cultural mores. In the wake of this effort, we’ve seen an uptick in divisive, homophobic rhetoric accusing LGBT-inclusive teachers and parents of “grooming” children, or even of pedophilia.  

At least Aftergut acknowledges how popular DeSantis is. 

There was also the hysterical racism from MSNBC's Joy Reid. 

As our friends at Twitchy highlighted, Reid lamented having black boys hold up anti-CRT signs was "tantamount to child abuse."

Pushaw tweeted and retweeted about that too.

These latest offenders are not exactly a surprise, though it doesn't exactly make their attacks any less awful.