Ron DeSantis: Charlie Crist Is Waging the Culture War in the Classroom

Democrat Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) on Monday was utterly unable to defend his support of opposing legislation that protects young children from being taught about sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) made it clear that it is Democrats such as Crist who are waging a culture war.

Crist on Monday asserted that DeSantis is waging “cultural and political wars,” failing to explain why he opposes DeSantis’s efforts to protect parental rights. 

DeSantis offered a pointed response.

“When you oppose the parental rights in education bill, which prevents six-, seven-, eight-year-olds from having sexuality, gender ideology injected in their curriculum, you are the one that’s waging the culture war,” DeSantis responded. “I’m simply defending parents and students because it’s inappropriate … It’s inappropriate to tell … a six-year-old that they were born in the wrong body. It’s inappropriate to tell an eight-year-old that they may have been born a girl, but maybe they’re really a boy.”

“That’s wrong. We need to do the basics. We need to teach them to read write, add and subtract. And if we do that, we will continue to lead in fourth-grade reading and fourth-grade math like we did in today’s NAEP results, which is a great testament of open schools and a lot of hard-working folks in our school system,” the governor said, reminding Floridians that he is the father of two little girls who are “very athletic,” reemphasizing his commitment to protecting women’s sports. 

Crist responded by asserting that DeSantis is essentially “anti-democracy” and accusing the governor of dividing people. 

“There you go again. It’s all about ‘culture war.’ It’s all about dividing us. I’m a uniter,” said Crist, the same Democrat who said he was “so damn proud” of President Joe Biden for demonizing millions of Americans.

Crist then baselessly accused DeSantis of dividing “blacks against whites, “gay against straight,” and “young versus old.”

“I think denying girls and women athletes the right to compete fairly — I think that’s divisive,” DeSantis said, reminding Floridians that Crist also accused millions of Floridians of having “hate in your heart” for supporting DeSantis.