Second verse, the same as the first. That’s the theme of the liberal media and left’s attacks on Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis as they fling the same wild accusations and smears against him that they did former President Trump. On Friday’s edition of her eponymous show, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell tacitly agreed with National Urban League president and CEO Marc Morial when he proclaimed DeSantis was “literally” a “21st century George Wallace” who was “blocking the doors to libraries.”
Looking for Morial’s input, Mitchell huffed that DeSantis was “hitting back at the NAACP” for their ridiculous “Florida travel advisory to Americans saying that DeSantis was trying to, quote, ‘erase black history and restrict diversity.’”
It took Morial a little bit to get his gears turning as he repeated his talking points like a broken record “He is a history suppressor. He is a voter suppressor. And his effort to distract the issue into discussion of school choice misses the point that he has been a book banner and a black history suppressor and a voter suppressor. That is his record,” he proclaimed.
Morial followed this up by showing he didn’t know what the word “literally” meant by baselessly accusing DeSantis of “literally” being just like the racist former governor of Alabama:
So, his actions in, Andrea, in suppressing black history and in opposing AP black history is so offensive to me and so offensive to so many of us, it's not only shocking and surprising, he literally – literally has made himself in many respects a 21st century George Wallace.
George Wallace blocked the door to schools. He’s blocking the doors to libraries. He’s blocking the doors to the legitimacy of African American contributions to this country. It's offensive. It's racist. It's backward leaning. It's not the 21st century.
There was no evidence DeSantis was “blocking the doors to libraries” and he was not stopping schools from teaching the contributions black Americans have made to the country.
But those lies were not corrected by Mitchell. Instead, she tacitly agreed with them when she asserted “This is not just from DeSantis. This is what we have seen in Texas and other states as well.”
She also praised how “nine Democratic governors now writing a letter to the largest textbook publishers today urging them not to give into the pressure, calling it ‘censorship of education.’”
Morial built off of Mitchell’s talk of supposed “censorship” to suggest that, under DeSantis, Florida “sound like North Korea, sound like Russia, sound like totalitarian regimes.” “No matter whether we agree or disagree what's in a book, then we have always honored - in this country - the marketplace of discussion, the marketplace of ideas and to place the official sanction on the state on the suppression of history is anti-American,” he bloviated.
Much like his first set of comments, Morial’s second set got ZERO pushback from Mitchell and she promptly ended the segment.
MSNBC’s permissiveness with smears against DeSantis was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Verizon and Coventry Direct. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports
June 2, 2023
12:29:47 p.m. Eastern(…)
ANDREA MITCHELL: And Mark Morial, let's drill down somewhat on Governor DeSantis. He’s hitting back at the NAACP after the NAA issued a Florida travel advisory to Americans saying that DeSantis was trying to, quote, “erase black history and restrict diversity.” And here’s DeSantis responding to the NAACP on Fox News last week, a talking point he used this week in New Hampshire.
[Cuts to video]
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We have school choice. That's one of the reasons why our black students perform as high as just about any black students in the country. [Transition] You go to Baltimore or Chicago, some of the kids are more likely to get shot than to actually have a high-quality education. I don't hear the NAACP talking about that.
[Cuts back to live]
MITCHELL: What's your response to that, Marc?
MARC MORIAL: He is a history suppressor. He is a voter suppressor. And his effort to distract the issue into discussion of school choice misses the point that he has been a book banner and a black history suppressor and a voter suppressor. That is his record.
So, while that talking point may work with some elements of the Republican primary base, the more he acts that way, the more he emphasizes those issues, he loses one of the points he is trying to make which is I'm more electable in a general election. He simply seems like he’s trying to become the new Trump or Trumpish. And that is not what will make him a better general election candidate.
So, his actions in, Andrea, in suppressing black history and in opposing AP black history is so offensive to me and so offensive to so many of us, it's not only shocking and surprising, he literally – literally has made himself in many respects a 21st century George Wallace.
George Wallace blocked the door to schools. He’s blocking the doors to libraries. He’s blocking the doors to the legitimacy of African American contributions to this country. It's offensive. It's racist. It's backward leaning. It's not the 21st century.
MITCHELL: Well, you have nine Democratic governors now writing a letter to the largest textbook publishers today urging them not to give into the pressure, calling it “censorship of education.” This is not just from DeSantis. This is what we have seen in Texas and other states as well.
MORIAL: And you know, the important thing about it is, censorships sound like North Korea, sound like Russia, sound like totalitarian regimes. No matter whether we agree or disagree what's in a book, then we have always honored - in this country - the marketplace of discussion, the marketplace of ideas and to place the official sanction on the state on the suppression of history is anti-American. Period, full stop.
And I think it's the right for governors of other states to do. I’m part of an effort called the Freedom to Learn Campaign. And that Freedom to Learn Campaign is going to push back on whether it's a governor of a state or an activist or whomever it may be against this effort to suppress the history of black people today. Who else will it be tomorrow? It's not American.
(…)
