Maxwell Frost: DeSantis is ‘fascist’ for wanting new bill to ban preferred pronouns

Progressive Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost, 26, lashes out at Gov. Ron DeSantis for his policies that target and disproportionately affect Black and LGBTQ people.

Frost, whose district includes the western half of Orlando where Walt Disney World is located, told CNN on Sunday that DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, is not trying to improve education but is “turning vulnerable communities made scapegoats for their failures.”

It comes as the Florida legislature, which has a Republican majority, returns to session this week for two months. During that time, Republican lawmakers plan to pass a multitude of education-focused bills, legislation the freshman lawmaker claims is fascist.

Part of the extensive agenda this legislative session is to expand the ban on teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity to 7th and 8th grade students when a previous version of the law passed 6th grade. Critics call the ‘Parental Rights in Education’ bill the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.

Another education-focused bill would ban gender studies classes and diversity programs at state-funded universities in Florida.

The legislature is also considering a bill that would require teachers to use student pronouns for the gender they were born into and prohibits the use of preferred pronouns from kindergarten through grade 12. This bill is now being considered. dubbed by opponents as the ‘Don’t Say They’ bill.

“This is what we’re dealing with in Florida right now, and it’s hard to keep track of it because it seems like there’s a new victim, there’s a new bill every day,” Frost told CNN’s Jim Acosta on Sunday.

“But we have to call it what it is: he is abusing his power and using the state to attack political opponents and enemies,” the first Gen Z lawmaker argued. “And there is a word for that, and it is fascism, And we have to be honest about it.”

Elected in the 2022 midterm elections, Frost represents a rare Democratic blue oasis in a sea of ​​red in Florida. Of Florida’s 28 districts, only eight are represented by Democrats in the US House of Representatives. Both Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott are also Republicans.

The Florida legislature is also controlled by a large Republican majority on both the House and Senate sides, which means they will probably be able to pass almost any legislation that comes up the right side of the aisle.

In the House of Representatives there are 84 Republicans and 35 Democrats; in the Senate there are 28 Republicans and 12 Democrats.

Frost’s comments Sunday come as DeSantis is widely seen as the top contender against former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican primary. DeSantis has yet to announce a race, but began touring the country on a book tour ahead of time. to the ad.

“It’s just a problem for Florida right now, of course,” Frost said in his CNN interview when talking about DeSantis. “But in a few years, it can be a problem for the nation.”

The Florida legislature enters session this week and will consider a series of bills focused on education and other issues on the conservative agenda. Pictured: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at the Ronald Reagan Library in Southern California on Sunday, March 5.

DeSantis promised during his January inauguration (pictured) that he would take on ‘woke’ educational institutions and ‘woke’ corporations. He is widely seen as the favorite to be the Republican nominee in 2024, although he has yet to announce his candidacy.

DeSantis was in Texas over the weekend and then at the Ronald Reagan Library in Southern California on Sunday. He will deliver his state of the state address to the Florida legislature on Wednesday.

He will then stop in Alabama on Thursday before an early state stop in Iowa on Friday for the first time since becoming a possible 2024 contender.

Over the weekend, he will spend time in Nevada, a critical state and one of the early caucuses. He will go to the first New Hampshire state primary election at the end of March.

DeSantis is also expected to sign bills during this two-month legislative session that include: ending requirements for a permit to carry a firearm, making it easier to impose the death penalty on felons, and forcing businesses to use E-Verify, a website. based on the system administered by the Department of Homeland Security, to confirm that a worker has legal status in the US before being hired.

Famously, the session could also see increased spending for a program that transports illegal immigrants out of Florida to Democratic enclave states and sanctuary cities.

DeSantis also wants to cut taxes by $2 billion in the state.

Frost is the first Gen Z legislator elected to the United States Congress. He depicts a blue oasis in a red sea in Orlando, Florida, where Walt Disney World is located.