You can tell MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan has no fear of being fact-checked by the so-called “independent fact checkers” and for good reason, it appears they prefer to target conservatives. If the fact-checkers were fair, then what Hasan said on his low-rated Sunday evening eponymous show would’ve gotten him a pants-on-fire false rating by claiming that under Florida Governor Ron DeSantis the state “has gone from don't say gay to don't say black.”
Of course, this is a lie built on a lie since the Parental Rights in Education law never banned the word “gay.” In fact, the word appears nowhere in the text of the bill as NewsBusters has previously reported. On top of that, DeSantis hasn't banned "black history" from being taught in public schools, it's just this one course that DeSantis believes is inappropriate for public school students.
After referencing a New York Times hit piece on DeSantis that accused him of teaching a history class on the Civil War from the south's perspective, Hasen huffed that "now he’s graduated from whitewashing black history, to simply erasing it."
"DeSantis has blocked a new AP course on African American history from being taught in Florida schools, saying that it violates state laws and is quote, historically inaccurate. Under DeSantis, Florida has gone from don't say gay to don't say black," Hasan whined.
He then went on offense to brag about how "Democrats and educators are fighting back," and that "DeSantis is facing a wave of backlash from labor unions, academic associations, and even threats of a lawsuit from civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump."
Hasan ended by getting in one last lie: "who would've thought that trying to erase black history would cause such a backlash? Shocker."
It's unclear whether Hasan knows this was a lie or he's really that ignorant of basic facts in Florida. Either way, he's spreading misinformation.
This dishonest segment on MSNBC was made possible thanks to Verizon. Their information is linked.
To read the transcript click "expand":
MSNBC’s The Mehdi Hasan Show
1/29/2023
8:21:23 p.m. EasternMEHDI HASAN: Let me take you back 20 years when a brash young ivy league graduate went down to Georgia to teach history at Darlington, one of the state's oldest boarding schools. To say his teaching style was unorthodox would be well, generous. One former student told The New York Times that he taught a class on the Civil War in such a way that it came off as an attempt to justify slavery.
The student said, quote, he was trying to play devil's advocate that the south had good reason to fight that way, to kill other people over owning people. Black people. And who was that brash young unorthodox teacher you ask? Why the current Governor of Florida, Republican Ron DeSantis of course.
Only now he’s graduated from whitewashing black history, to simply erasing it. DeSantis has blocked a new AP course on African American history from being taught in Florida schools, saying that it violates state laws and is quote, historically inaccurate. Under DeSantis, Florida has gone from don't say gay to don't say black.
But Democrats and educators are fighting back. DeSantis is facing a wave of backlash from labor unions, academic associations, and even threats of a lawsuit from civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. Who would've thought that trying to erase black history would cause such a backlash? Shocker.
