‘Blatant Lie’: Governor DeSantis Takes Bold Action Against NBC Over Lies Spewed by MSNBC Host

On Wednesday, the Press Secretary for Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced that the governor would be boycotting NBC Universal after a “Blatant Lie” was said about DeSantis on air.

Last Friday, during an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell stated that Governor DeSantis said that, “Slavery and the aftermath of slavery should not be taught.”

MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell claimed in an interview with Kamala Harris that Ron DeSantis didn’t want slavery taught in Florida schools

Except there was a small problem: it was a complete liepic.twitter.com/wxWAz1t99j

— OutKick (@Outkick) February 20, 2023

Following this statement by Mitchell, Bryan Griffin, Press Secretary for Governor DeSantis, took to Twitter to announce that the Florida politician would not be a guest on any NBC Universal programming until Mitchell, “Apologizes and your [NBC Universal] track record improves.”

To all of the bookers and producers reaching out to our office from @NBCNews and @MSNBC for @GovRonDeSantis to join your shows, this will be the standard response from our office until @mitchellreports apologizes and your track record improves. pic.twitter.com/8kQcLLEVzW

— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) February 22, 2023

“There will be no consideration of anything related to NBC Universal or its affiliates until at least Andrea Mitchell corrects the blatant lie she made about the Governor and NBC and its affiliates display a consistent track record of truthful reporting,” an email from Griffin to an unknown recipient stated.

GOVERNOR DESANTIS PROPOSES SWEEPING NEW POLICIES TO COMBAT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IN FLORIDA

On Wednesday morning, Mitchell would attempt to correct the claim made on her show, saying she was “Imprecise on Governor DeSantis’s position about teaching slavery in schools.”  She then added that DeSantis, “has opposed the teaching of an African American studies curriculum as well as the use of some authors and source materials that historians and teachers say makes it all but impossible for students to understand the broader historic and political context behind slavery and its aftermath in the years since.”

Once again, @mitchellreports is "imprecise" in her description because she relies on unnamed "historians and teachers."

Florida statute requires the teaching of slavery and its aftermath. We just know that "queer studies" has nothing to do with Jim Crow.https://t.co/tHKJW30L9l pic.twitter.com/h6l1RDsC4f

— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) February 22, 2023

Following Mitchell’s response, Griffin would take to Twitter to state his dissatisfaction with her response. “This ‘postscript’ from [Andrea Mitchell] is a typical non-apology response that doubles down on the original lie.”

This "postscript" from @mitchellreports is a typical non-apology response that doubles down on the original lie. https://t.co/myd3DsLiat

— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) February 22, 2023

This back and forth is based on the continued efforts by Governor DeSantis to push back against the teaching of Critical Race Theory in public schools. Last April, he signed a law banning school districts from teaching the divisive racial theory. DeSantis has also worked to remove certain books from elementary and middle schools that explicitly talk about sex. More recently, DeSantis has stated his desire to “reevaluate” the state’s relationship with the College Board over concerns that what was being taught in the AP high school course on African American studies was based on a “political agenda.” The College Board would go on to revise the course earlier this month as a response.

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