DeSantis says it’s the media’s fault LGBTQ+ people think he’s dangerous

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) blames the media for his anti-LGBTQ+ reputation, despite the fact that the presidential hopeful has devoted his tenure to rolling back LGBTQ+ rights in his state.

In an interview with CBS Evening News, DeSantis expressed his thoughts on the NAACP’s travel advisory for Florida, which warns that the state “is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.” The Human Rights Campaign has issued a similar travel advisory.

Related: Fox host says protecting kids from being forcibly outed is as bad as slavery in unhinged rant

He said respecting the privacy of LGBTQ+ youth is just an excuse for “psychotic activists” to exploit children.

He called the warning a “stunt” and said everyone would feel “a hundred percent” welcome in his America.

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“That is politics,” he said. “That’s a stunt that they’re playing. They obviously have [a] very left-wing agenda, which I don’t begrudge them that. But in Florida, our unemployment rate amongst African-Americans is way lower than New York, California, and these blue states. We have more Black-owned businesses in Florida than any state in the United States.”

He added, “I have more African-American students on scholarships for our school-choice program than any other state in the United States. And so we’ve shown people can succeed in Florida regardless of their race, ethnicity, any of that. We will judge people as individuals.”

Florida’s school choice program uses taxpayer dollars to fund students’ attendance at private, religious schools and homeschools. This sort of funding is a longtime goal of anti-LGBTQ+ religious conservatives who believe that public schools “indoctrinate” students against their parents’ morals.

The interviewer, Norah O’Donnell, then brought up LGBTQ+ people specifically, saying that DeSantis’ policies have led many in the community to believe he would discriminate against them as president. DeSantis is widely considered one of the most anti-LGBTQ+ governors in history.

“Well, part of the reason they think that is ’cause of narratives that are put out by media,” DeSantis said. “I mean, for example, when we had the fight with Disney over the elementary education about, should you have things about sex and gender identity, telling a second grader that their gender’s fluid? We said, ‘Absolutely not.’ Parents in Florida agreed. And throughout the country, I think, agreed with that.”

DeSantis took issue with the fact that activists and members of the media labeled the law as the “Don’t Say Gay” law since the bill never actually mentioned the word gay.

He then dodged O’Donnell’s follow-up question about what the appropriate age should be to teach a kid about gender identity. He also gave a rambling, vague non-answer when asked if he’d support overturning Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that legalized marriage equality nationwide.

The NAACP issued a travel advisory in May that called Florida “openly hostile for African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals.” 2024 Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to the warning in a sit-down interview with @NorahODonnell. pic.twitter.com/kYFcKMRg1f

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) September 13, 2023

DeSantis has spent his time as governor launching numerous blindsides attacking “woke indoctrination” in schools, and has taken control of the state’s education system with handpicked administrators and the power of the bully pulpit. His staff has regularly smeared LGBTQ+ people and allies on social media with vile slurs and insinuations of sexual abuse.

DeSantis has ranted against “woke gender ideology” and once claimed, “In the state of Florida, we are not going to allow them to inject transgenderism into kindergarten.” In 2021, DeSantis signed a bill banning trans students from participating in school sports, and he has since gone to war with Disney over its opposition to the Don’t Say Gay law.

In August, he gaslit the LGBTQ+ community by claiming he is not in favor of “demeaning” anyone.

“I don’t believe in demeaning anybody, and we have not done that since I’ve been governor,” he said, while addressing a widely mocked anti-LGBTQ+ campaign video.