Ron DeSantis Has Regrets About Florida's Book Challenges

Like a groundhog emerging from its den, Ron DeSantis poked his nose back into Florida state politics last week. The shadow he saw was that of the state’s controversial book-banning policy that never officially existed but was a direct result of HB 1069 being signed into existence last year.

That House Bill was passed to keep sexually explicit materials out of classrooms and children’s libraries. But “sexually explicit” is open to interpretation, so book challenges ballooned out to include books like the dictionary. 

School board meetings in Florida and elsewhere have been overrun with activists working to have books removed, and Moms For Liberty, the organizing body behind a lot of this effort, continues to grow across the country. I guess no one told Ron what was happening in his home state or what havoc his policy created while he was on the election trail because, at a press conference he held last week, he decried it as being out of control. We hate to say, “I told you so,” Ron. But we totally told you so.

One of the issues DeSantis seems bothered by was the idea that people without children in the school system have been getting books banned at Florida schools. He explained, “...if you're somebody who doesn't have a kid in school and you're gonna object to 100 books? No, I don't think that's appropriate.”  

(You don’t say!)

He also objected to some of the books that have been removed from school and library shelves. Saying, “You should not be reviewing dictionaries, encyclopedias, and just basic things that have been a part of education for a long time.”

(Reeeaaaalllllllyyy?)

And he floated the idea of limiting the number of book challenges individuals can submit, which would at least prevent this guy from submitting any more requests.

DeSantis is trying to push all of the toothpaste back into the tube here and it’s too little too late. There is absolutely nothing you can do to convince me he didn’t know that this is where Florida would wind up when he signed HB 1069. This unpopular bill did a lot to tank his chances of getting the presidential nomination. He has some regrets about letting it spin this wildly out of control.  I’m sure the people of Florida have some regrets too, Ron.