DeSantis officials push back on Byron Donalds’ criticism of African American history standards

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a response from Rep. Byron Donalds.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – DeSantis administration officials slammed Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds after the congressman agreed with some criticism against the state’s new African American history standards.

Donalds said Wednesday morning that while the new standards approved by Florida are “good, robust, & accurate,” sections that “feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong & needs to be adjusted.”

“That obviously wasn’t the goal & I have faith that FLDOE [state Department of Education] will correct this,” he said.

Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. affirmed to superintendents Wednesday afternoon that the standards will be approved in their current form.

Responding to Donalds, Diaz slammed the congressman as “supposedly conservative” and part of the federal government trying to “dictate Florida’s education standards.”

“This new curriculum is based on truth,” he said. “We will not back down from teaching our nation’s true history at the behest of a woke @WhiteHouse, nor at the behest of a supposedly conservative congressman.”

Jeremy Redfern, the press secretary for Gov. Ron DeSantis, also called Donalds a “supposed conservative.”

“Supposed conservatives in the federal government are pushing the same false narrative that originated from the @WhiteHouse,” Redfern said. “Florida isn’t going to hide the truth for political convenience.”

Vice President Kamala Harris visited Florida last week to decry the sections on slavery in the new state standards.

“Maybe the congressman shouldn’t swing for the liberal media fences like @VP [Kamala Harris],” DeSantis’ press secretary continued.

In response, Donalds noted he “expressed support for the vast majority of the new African American history standards” but only opposed “one sentence that seemed to dignify the skills gained by slaves as a result of their enslavement.”

“Anyone who can’t accurately interpret what I said is disingenuous and is desperately attempting to score political points,” Donalds continued. “Just another reason why l’m proud to have endorsed President Donald J. Trump!”

Donalds endorsed former President Donald Trump for president in April. He’s also recently said he’d accept a vice president position from Trump if offered one.

The congressman previously received a 100% “Liberty Score” from Conservative Review and a 96% conservative score from Heritage Action.

Critics have said provisions outlining that Florida instruction will include “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit” were “inaccurate.”

The creators of the standards responded to criticisms last week, saying, “the intent of this particular benchmark clarification is to show that some slaves developed highly specialized trades from which they benefitted.”

“This is factual and well documented,” they argued.

DeSantis pushed back after Harris visited Florida, saying she tried “to push a fake narrative about what Florida did.”

“She wasn’t going down to the border to actually do the job there to secure it. She wasn’t working on all the cities that are decaying because of Soros-backed prosecutors,” he said.

Democrats claimed that part of the standard is “perpetuating historical inaccuracies and contributing to a lackluster version of American history.”

Rep. Jervonte Edmonds, D-West Palm Beach, said the curriculum’s attempt to frame the labor skills developed by slaves as potentially “applied for their personal benefit” is “particularly concerning.”