Acting on behalf of its parental overlords in Ron DeSantis-hating Disney, ABC’s Good Morning America ran a 62-second segment on Thursday trashing the Florida Republican Governor’s Board of Education for having “expanded the Don't Say Gay bill” that “critics warn...is dangerous” to the lives of students.
ABC had a helping hand as Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News also bemoaned the change while touting members of Florida’s congressional delegation endorsing former President Trump over DeSantis in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
Good Morning America was shameless from the get-go, starting with this as the chyron: “Florida Expands So-Called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Rules; Limits on Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation Topics Applied to All School Grades.”
They didn’t stop with the hackery as they had co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos open the segment, which never used the actual name of the bill (the Parental Rights in Education Act) and instead only used the left’s framing: “Now to Florida where the Board of Education has expanded the Don’t Say Gay bill.”
Senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott was on the case and similarly set the stage so as to stay in the good graces of the people who sign her paychecks: “It’s been dubbed Don’t Say Gay, a law in Florida that restricts what teachers can tell their students about sexual orientation and gender identity.”
After explaining the Board of Education voted to keep discussions about sex out of grades four through 12 with the caveats of a parental opt-out and it being pertinent to a health course, she fretted that, as the changes “go into effect in the coming weeks...critics warn this policy is dangerous and insist students who may be struggling will be cut off from the teachers who could help.”
Disagree with having sex discussed in schools? Then the lives of LGBTQ students are at risk! What absurd framing.
Over on NBC, anchor Lester Holt teased a story on “the new power struggle for former President Trump’s top potential Republican rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.”
Holt, to his credit, began the two-minute-and-12-second segment with the correct name of the law (though quickly followed by the left’s tag) and said it was “a victory for Governor Ron DeSantis touting that law and his record on the economy as he ramps up an expected run for president.”
Following a highlight from DeSantis’s Wednesday remarks in South Carolina, correspondent Gabe Gutierrez reported on the findings and pointed out Disney’s opposition (click “expand”):
DESANTIS: People also side with us on wanting our school system to be about educating kids, not indoctrinating kids. [SCREEN WIPE] Gender ideology has no place in our K through 12 school system.
GUTIERREZ: Today, Florida’s Department of Education expanded the state’s Parental Rights in Education Act banning classroom instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten now through 12th grade unless it’s required by state academic standards or part of a health course parents can still opt out of. LGBTQ advocacy groups, who dubbed it the Don’t Say Gay Law, slamming the expansion saying it will “further stigmatize and isolate a population of young people who need our support.” Disney also opposed that law, sparking that growing feud with DeSantis.
Instead of making vague claims about DeSantis and the Florida legislature being anti-free market and “un-American”, he at least explained they want “to end the decades-old deal that gave Disney self-governance and tax breaks.”
But in questioning Florida House Speaker Paul Renner (R), Gutierrez huffed: “Isn’t it risky to go after the largest single-site employer in Florida?”
Renner didn’t budge: “I think it’s risky not to hold people accountable and make sure that people play by the same rules.”
The rest of the report focused on 2024 with Gutierrez tut-tutting over DeSantis’s “bruising visit to Washington where more Republican members of Congress endorsed Mr. Trump instead” and that DeSantis hasn’t declared due in part to Florida’s legislature being in session, where it’s “passed” “Republican bills” on “abortion restrictions, school vouchers, and expanded gun rights.”
ABC and NBC needing to cry more about DeSantis’s latest move was made possible thanks to advertisers such as AARP (on ABC) and Liberty Mutual (on NBC). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcript from April 19 and 20, click “expand.”
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
April 19, 2023
6:43 p.m. Eastern [TEASE]LESTER HOLT: And the new power struggle for former President Trump’s top potential Republican rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, next.
(....)
6:44 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Controversial Law Expanded]
HOLT: In Florida, the Parental Rights in Education Act, what critics dub the Don’t Say Gay Law, has been expanded. A victory for Governor Ron DeSantis touting that law and his record on the economy as he ramps up an expected run for president. Gabe Gutierrez is in Florida for us tonight.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Florida Expands Controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay Law’
GABE GUTIERREZ: Tonight, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is in the early primary state of South Carolina. The top potential challenger to former President Trump slamming what he calls the woke mob.
GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS (R-FL): People also side with us on wanting our school system to be about educating kids, not indoctrinating kids. [SCREEN WIPE] Gender ideology has no place in our K through 12 school system.
GUTIERREZ: Today, Florida’s Department of Education expanded the state’s Parental Rights in Education Act banning classroom instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten now through 12th grade unless it’s required by state academic standards or part of a health course parents can still opt out of. LGBTQ advocacy groups, who dubbed it the Don’t Say Gay Law, slamming the expansion saying it will “further stigmatize and isolate a population of young people who need our support.” Disney also opposed that law, sparking that growing feud with DeSantis. Republican lawmakers now trying to end the decades-old deal that gave Disney self-governance and tax breaks. [TO RENNER] Isn’t it risky to go after the largest single-site employer in Florida?
FLORIDA HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RENNER (R): I think it’s risky not to hold people accountable and make sure that people play by the same rules.
GUTIERREZ: The battle comes as questions mount about DeSantis’s not yet official presidential campaign after a bruising visit to Washington where more Republican members of Congress endorsed Mr. Trump instead. Florida House Speaker Paul Renner is a staunch DeSantis ally. [TO RENNER] Has he indicated to you that he plans to run for president after the session is over?
RENNER: No, he hasn’t. And what I appreciate about the governor is he’s focused on this very, very big transformative session that I think is leading where the country ought to go in the coming years.
GUTIERREZ: Among the Republican bills passed, abortion restrictions, school vouchers, and expanded gun rights. Other sources tell NBC News that Governor DeSantis could announce a presidential run as early as next month. Lester?
HOLT: All right, Gabe, thank you.
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ABC’s Good Morning America
April 20, 2023
8:04 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: GMA Morning Rundown; Florida Expands So-Called “Don’t Say Gay” Rules; Limits on Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation Topics Applied to All School Grades]
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Now to Florida where the Board of Education has expanded the Don't Say Gay bill. Senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott is here with the latest on that. Good morning, Rachel.
RACHEL SCOTT: Hey, George, good morning. It's been dubbed Don’t Say Gay, a law in Florida that restricts what teachers can tell their students about sexual orientation and gender identity. Up until now, this only applied from kindergarten through third grade. But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration is pushing for it to include all students for high school. The Florida Board of Education approved the restriction, which states, “For Grades 4 through 12, instruction on sexual orientation or gender is prohibited unless it is either expressly required by state academic standards...or is part of reproductive health course or health for which a student’s parent has the option to have his or her student now attend.” A spokesperson for DeSantis has signaled that he supports this move. It’s expected to go into effect in the coming weeks, but critics warn this policy is dangerous and insist students who may be struggling will be cut off from the teachers who could help, Rebecca.
JARVIS: Okay, Rachel Scott, thanks so much for being with us here in studio today.
