MSNBC’s host of The 11th Hour, Stephanie Ruhle, really does not like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and for her Friday panel, she invited a series of guests to affirm these feelings. The segment reached peak absurdity when Operation Hope founder and chairman John Hope Bryant proclaimed that Russia and China love what DeSantis is doing.
Ruhle began the segment by running through the list of supposed horrible things Florida has done, “Florida is becoming ground zero for the culture wars. Republicans are waging and a sign of what we might expect at the national party, erasing history, banning books anti-gay bills, gas stoves, and you cannot possibly make this up, tracking menstrual cycles of student athletes.”
Asking comedian Judy Gold to kick off the discussion, Ruhle was at a loss for words, “Judy, I start with you first. What-- I don't even know what to say about Florida.”
Gold was likewise speechless, “I-- What is going on there? What? I mean, first of all, the menstrual--I'm speechless that you would -- you've taken away Roe v. Wade and now you are telling female athletes that they have to report their menstrual flows.”
If Ruhle had bothered to read from the Time article on the matter that was highlighted in her intro, she would know that Florida isn’t breaking new ground here, “In several school districts—including in Austin, Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth—the questions are mandatory to complete.” Those four cities aren’t exactly hot spots of conservative culture warring.
Later, Ruhle turned to Bryant, “John, last night on this network, Stephen A. Smith said, Ron DeSantis, I might agree with him on a whole lot of policies, but I’m going to stop at him dictating African-American studies in any state in any school in any state in this country. What do you think?”
Bryant began falsely suggesting this is about teaching incomplete history, “You cannot decide which part of the history you want to learn about. All of our history is rich and important. This is 1960 over again. This is 1865 all over again where we're stoking fears, deciding we are separate.”
It got worse from there. Next, Bryant accused Florida of being unbiblical, “The Bible says, the house divided cannot stand. Supposedly this party is about this higher idea, well, let's go right to the Bible. We're only better together, and a saint is a sinner that got up, we’re all angels with dirty faces, right? You cannot have a rainbow without a storm first.”
Somehow managing to get even more absurd, Bryant added, “who loves all this, Stephanie? It's China, China and Russia, loves that we're in a food fight because a house divided cannot stand. They want to take a position in the world, we're really at war. Sorry, they're at war with us. They want our station in life and we're helping them.”
Bryant concluded by declaring “you're actually doing your kids a disadvantage, not to have the whole history of how this country was built because it was built for free. It was built for free by my ancestors, my great-grandfather was a slave. My great-great-grandmother was a slave. Me knowing that history and still not hating anybody as a result of it makes me better, it makes me love my brother and sister more.”
Not only is Bryant trivializing and politicizing national security for his own ends, using his own logic he is also doing Russia and China’s bidding by promoting divisive ideas such as the country being “built for free.”
This segment was sponsored by E-Trade.
Here is a transcript for the February 3 show:
MSNBC The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle
2/3/2022
11:30 PM ET
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Florida is becoming ground zero for the culture wars. Republicans are waging and a sign of what we might expect at the national party, erasing history, banning books anti-gay bills, gas stoves, and you cannot possibly make this up, tracking menstrual cycles of student athletes. Our Friday night panel is here to discuss all.
…
Judy, I start with you first. What-- I don't even know what to say about Florida.
JUDY GOLD: I-- What is going on there? What? I mean, first of all, the menstrual--I'm speechless that you would -- you've taken away Roe v. Wade and now you are telling female athletes that they have to report their menstrual flows. Do they have the boys report when their testicles drop? I mean, I don’t understand.
RUHLE: I did not hit puberty until I was 17. Does that mean I was going to have to sit on the asexual bench for all of my cheerleading? Like, how’s that going to work.
GOLD: Yes, some girls don't even get their periods because they're athletic and it's just, it is mind boggling. Less government but you cannot control your body or keep private your medical history. It's-- I don’t—I’m.
RUHLE: How serious are you taking all of this Jelani. You're a professor. Do you think this will impact, for example, this book banning, what our kids are actually learning or do you think it’s all a big show for theatrics?
JELANI COBB: So, you know, I think that, you know, there’s political theater aspect of it. Clearly people are doing things like the gas stove stuff, you know, they’re trying to find, like, hot button things where a person, some curmudgeonly person is sitting in their living room going, “yeah, the Democrats want to come in and rip your stove out of the wall” and that part of it is kind of ridiculous, but in reality, this does have a chilling effect when I talk with faculty, I’ve talked with deans, I’ve talked with people in higher education, they're talking about the very real sense of intimidation that people have, maybe they think twice about whether they want to teach at the University of Florida. Maybe they think twice about whether they want to host academic events there.
I mean, it really does have an impact on the prestige of the state and certainly the prestige of state institutions of higher education.
RUHLE: John, last night on this network, Stephen A. Smith said, Ron DeSantis, I might agree with him on a whole lot of policies, but I’m going to stop at him dictating African-American studies in any state in any school in any state in this country. What do you think?
JOHN HOPE BRYANT: I think he’s completely right about that and America needs to be right about this. You cannot decide which part of the history you want to learn about. All of our history is rich and important. This is 1960 over again. This is 1865 all over again where we're stoking fears, deciding we are separate.
The Bible says, the house divided cannot stand. Supposedly this party is about this higher idea, well, let's go right to the Bible. We're only better together, and a saint is a sinner that got up, we’re all angels with dirty faces, right? You cannot have a rainbow without a storm first.
So, it is a complicated history, like a family, that actually makes us better and who loves all this, Stephanie? It's China, China and Russia, loves that we're in a food fight because a house divided cannot stand. They want to take a position in the world, we're really at war. Sorry, they're at war with us. They want our station in life and we're helping them.
So, while on a small stage, this, I guess, helps them with the theatrics of politics, it separates, divides, stokes fears and allows people to be comfortable, but you're actually doing your kids a disadvantage, not to have the whole history of how this country was built because it was built for free.
It was built for free by my ancestors, my great-grandfather was a slave. My great-great-grandmother was a slave. Me knowing that history and still not hating anybody as a result of it makes me better, it makes me love my brother and sister more.
