- GOP Rep. John James called out Gov. Ron DeSantis over the new slavery curriculum in Florida.
- James on the social media platform X said DeSantis is now "so far from the Party of Lincoln."
Republican Rep. John James of Michigan on Friday blasted Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida over the governor's response to criticism from key Black conservatives over the state's new Black history education guidelines, stating that the presidential candidate had "gone too far" and needed to "stop" his defense of the changes.
James — a Black freshman lawmaker who was the GOP nominee in two highly competitive Senate races in 2018 and 2020 — took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to lambast DeSantis for attacking Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina after they pushed back against the new slavery curriculum.
"#1: slavery was not CTE! Nothing about that 400 years of evil was a "net benefit" to my ancestors. #2: there are only five black Republicans in Congress and you're attacking two of them. My brother in Christ … if you find yourself in a deep hole put the shovel down," the congressman wrote.
"You are now so far from the Party of Lincoln that your Ed. board is re-writing history and you're personally attacking conservatives like @VoteTimScott and @ByronDonalds on the topic of slavery. You've gone too far. Stop," he added.
The revised state education guidelines for middle schoolers mandate that teachers include instruction about "how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit" — which has created a firestorm among top Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, who last Friday condemned DeSantis over the new standards and again on Tuesday during a ceremony commemorating a new Emmett Till national monument.
But it is the pushback from Black conservatives, who would normally be political allies of virtually any Republican presidential contender, that has caused many people to turn their heads.
Donalds — who was a featured speaker at DeSantis' election night party last November before later endorsing Trump's 2024 presidential bid — described the revised standards as "robust" and "accurate" earlier this week.
But he also said that "the attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong" and "needs to be adjusted."
"That obviously wasn't the goal & I have faith that FLDOE will correct this," Donalds added, referencing the Florida Department of Education.
When DeSantis got word of the remarks, he lashed out at Donalds when asked about the issue by reporters in Iowa.
"At the end of the day, you got to choose: Are you going to side with Kamala Harris and liberal media outlets or are you going to side with the state of Florida?" the governor said. "I think it's very clear that these guys did a good job on those standards. It wasn't anything politically motivated."
Donalds on Friday made an appearance on Fox News, where he pointed to the DeSantis campaign over the dustup.
"Let's be clear. I don't even have a criticism," Donalds said. "My issue is with one sentence of the entire thing, one sentence of 200 pages. And the DeSantis team wants to make a big issue out of it? That's ridiculous."
Scott — who has been rising in the Republican presidential polls in recent weeks and could threaten DeSantis' current status as the most formidable alternative to former President Donald Trump — called out the governor on Thursday over the curriculum regarding slavery.
"What slavery was really about was separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating," the senator told reporters. "So I would hope that every person in our country — and certainly running for president — would appreciate that."
"People have bad days," Scott added. "Sometimes they regret what they say. And we should ask them again to clarify their positions."
DeSantis also responded to Scott on Friday, remarking that Washington Republicans "all too often accept false narratives" and "accept lies that are perpetrated by the left."
"The way you lead is to fight back against the lies, is to speak the truth," the governor said while taking a campaign swing through Iowa. "So I'm here defending my state of Florida against false accusations and against lies, and we're going to continue to speak the truth."