Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley took a swing at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday… and missed badly. The 2024 contender accused DeSantis of not doing enough to stop gender and sex curriculum in elementary school classrooms, saying that last year’s Parental Rights in Education bill did not go far enough. Haley offered her criticism at a town hall in Exeter, New Hampshire.
“There was all this talk about the Florida bill, the ‘don’t say gay bill.'” Haley said, referring to the Parental Rights in Education bill. “Don’t say gay” was the popular moniker assigned to the bill by left-wing news outlets seeking to deceive the public.
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“Basically what it said was you shouldn’t be able to talk about gender before third grade. I’m sorry. I don’t think that goes far enough.”
Haley’s choice to criticize DeSantis comes just one day after she sidestepped questions relating to fellow presidential candidate Donald Trump. Asked by Sean Hannity what specific differences she had with the Trump campaign, Haley refused to answer twice. Afraid to incite the wrath of her former boss, Haley instead went on to criticize Florida’s governor the following day, who has not yet made any 2024 announcements.
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In an interview with Fox News Digital, Haley said that while she liked DeSantis, she felt that the Parental Rights in Education bill did not do enough to protect kids, referring to the third-grade cutoff.
“I just think that third grade’s too young. We should not be talking to kids in elementary school about gender, period.”
According to data submitted to the Department of Education, which the Daily Signal reviewed, 153 books have been removed from school shelves since September for being “pornographic, violent or inappropriate for the grade level for some other reason.” Because of legislation signed by Ron DeSantis, 23 school districts in Florida have pulled age-inappropriate material from their shelves.
“I can tell you, with our curriculum transparency, our parents are concerned if you’re in sixth grade and you’re able to access a book that has pornographic acts depicted,” DeSantis said at a Jacksonville event on Tuesday.
“And you have seen that across the country. Go read books like ‘Genderqueer’ and see what’s in there. It’s inappropriate. We’ve armed parents with the ability to object to that and we’re making sure we’re having education, not indoctrination.”
Despite claiming to be tougher than DeSantis on gender ideology, Haley notably vetoed a bill as Governor of South Carolina that prohibited men from using women’s restrooms under the auspices of being transgender. Under the DeSantis administration, the Florida Department of Education officially separated male and female bathrooms last January.
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While DeSantis has not made any presidential campaign announcements, he has consistently ranked second in national republican primary polls, behind former president Donald Trump. According to a Tuesday poll by Quinnipiac, DeSantis received 36 percent support, compared to Haley’s 5 percent support.
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