On Sunday, Will Hurd, a former Republican colleague of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s in Congress, accused DeSantis of being mean and hateful.
DeSantis and Hurd worked together in the House of Representatives as both Republicans.
Both men are running for the Republican nomination for president in 2024. Polls show that DeSantis is the second most popular presidential candidate, after Trump’s reelection campaign, but with double-digit support. Meanwhile, Hurd’s campaign’s chances of victory have been low.
Hurd discussed the recent modification to Florida’s public school curriculum proposed by the state’s Department of Education (DOE) on Sunday on NBC News’s Meet the Press. The forthcoming school year will see the implementation of new requirements for teaching African-American history in public schools. A document posted on the DOE website suggests that by eighth grade, students would learn how slaves acquired marketable talents. While DeSantis has justified the move as a reflection of history, it has been widely criticized by groups and people who believe it is an attempt to downplay the cruelty of slavery.
On Sunday, Hurd spoke out against the curriculum modifications in Florida, saying that they fit a pattern of bigotry and hatred he has seen from his former congressional colleague.
The governor of Florida defended the new curriculum requirements at a news conference earlier this month by saying he had nothing to do with their creation.
Hurd said it would be hard to urge individuals in Black and brown areas to support DeSantis if he were the GOP candidate. The ex-congressman brought out the governor’s nasty comments about the LGBTQ+ community and that the campaign had hired someone with known antisemitic inclinations as further points of contention.
Hurd called this a pattern. One is a fluke, three is a pattern, and this is a serious issue if it continues.
