With his 2024 effort over, DeSantis rethinks Florida’s ‘book ban’ – By Steve Benen (MSNBC) / Feb 16, 2024
Now that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign is over, the Florida Republican is apparently rethinking “the whole ‘book ban’ thing.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis believed his presidential campaign would benefit if he ran as a far-right culture warrior. With this dubious assumption in mind, the Florida Republican spent months crusading on social issues, imposing an abortion ban, targeting Disney, ending state diversity programs, signing the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” policy, and obsessively saying the word “woke” at every available opportunity.
But that’s really just a sampling of a broader agenda. The GOP governor also backed a policy that made it easier for parents to challenge books in school libraries, leading to what some referred to as Florida’s “book ban” policy.
DeSantis wasn’t altogether pleased with the rhetorical framing — when launching his presidential bid, the Republican called “the whole ‘book ban’ thing” a “hoax” — but as a New York Times report explained last year, there may not have been a statewide ban of a book, but individual school districts and libraries removed a great many books thanks to legislation the governor signed.
