Charlie Crist’s running mate Karla Hernáandez-Mats released a video on Thursday designed to attack Governor Ron DeSantis for “banning books” but deleted the video within 20 minutes.
The video was the third in Hernández-Mats’ series, “Chalkboard Talk,” where she takes the role of a teacher lecturing her Twitter on a campaign point, as a call back to her past as a teachers union boss. This video covered books Florida does not allow its public schools to provide to children. She notes that Florida bans the second most books out of any state and condemns the statistic as keeping kids from knowledge, saying, “and as we know, knowledge is power.”
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However, she does not specify what kept most of these books out of school libraries. The Florida Department of Education cites Critical Race Theory as a primary reason for many math textbooks’ exclusion. The FDE excluded other books for utilizing Common Core strategies that weren’t up to Florida’s standards and the shoehorning of Social Emotional Learning into inappropriate mediums like math textbooks.
Hernández-Mats chose to focus on a particular math textbook and had differing theories as to why it was excluded. Hernández-Mats flipped to one math problem and began reading.
“‘Juan gets 6 dollars for his weekly allowance and spends four. His sister Tina gets 7 dollars.’ Girls shouldn’t make more money than Juan. We know why this was banned.”
She never provides evidence that this question got the book banned.
With her second example, a math question that involves Dan owning a flower shop, she again assumed that the book was banned because this question consists of a boy owning a flower shop, caricaturing DeSantis, and assuming ridiculous motives. One Floridian took note of Hernández-Mats’ utter lack of evidence.
Well, that's just like your opinion, man. These books were excluded from the approved textbook list for a variety of reasons (not banned). Other, better books are on the list. This is demagoguery.
— The Cuban Dude (@dude_cuban) October 20, 2022
Another Floridian tweeted that the real reason the math book was excluded was that it stated that conservatives are racist.
When it was really banned because it said conservatives are racist. She’s such a liar. pic.twitter.com/kd6uWJXysm
— Rocky (@wavechaser2024) October 20, 2022
Within 20 minutes of the video being posted, it was taken down due to a spelling error, as the DeSantis War Room pointed out.
Oh… maybe @KarlaforFlorida deleted this cringe video because someone pointed out that she spelled "knowledge" wrong 🤓 pic.twitter.com/IbMwXPR5A8
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 #FloridaStrong (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 20, 2022
Their is a difference between banning and restricting access to sexually inappropriate books from young children.
— WarbirdSiren79 (@Blueeyes1979) October 20, 2022
The video comes as school boards and parents grapple with what they allow their children to be exposed to in school and how to limit political indoctrination. Many Floridians pointed out the topics and reasons that justify keeping books from young children.
Warning, Adult Content
This is definitely inappropriate for children and should not be in schools. It was found in Michigan schools and led to protests.
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 #FloridaStrong (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 20, 2022
And teaching white kids they are racist because they are born white.
— HappyMcD (@HMCD1616) October 20, 2022
However, most responses simply saw the video as in very bad taste.
— Fortified Verdad🐊 (@TheVerdadnow) October 20, 2022
This has got to be a parody of what democrats seem to be good publicity.
— mrs. (@ragnetsirk) October 20, 2022
Nothing says "vote for me" like lies and condescension. 🙄🙄
— Brenda Frost (@BrendaFrost18) October 20, 2022
Omg this is bad. 🤣
— John Donaldson (@JohnDonaldson02) October 20, 2022
Other stories you may want to read:
Karla Hernández-Mats Calls School Choice Racism, Wants School Administrators to ‘Be Woke’
Karla Hernández-Mats Brings Biden Cutout to Campaign Events
