Florida lawmakers and activists claimed Thursday that an “authoritarian movement,” heralded in by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is sweeping the state.
“In the state of Florida, the will of the people is suppressed, subverted and ignored,” U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said Thursday during a hearing he called about Florida’s increasingly restrictive laws targeting education, LGBTQ communities and more.
Four witnesses from Florida – a state representative, a former state attorney, a grassroots organizer and a former substitute teacher – called the state’s new legislation “unlawful” and an example of DeSantis “abusing his power.”
USA TODAY has reached out to DeSantis for comment.
Brian Covey, the former substitute teacher, said he lost his job for calling attention to DeSantis’ policies. When schools began to remove books in compliance with stricter state laws about materials in schools, Covey posted a video of empty bookshelves to Twitter, saying they “removed every single book” from his children’s classrooms. Covey said the day after he posted the video, he was fired.
“I knew the historical perspective of what I was witnessing, and I couldn’t believe this was the reality of my kids’ education,” Covey said Thursday.
When asked about the video earlier this year, DeSantis called it a “fake narrative.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and several other lawmakers, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Katie Porter, D-Calif., attended the Thursday hearing. Jeffries compared Florida’s “anti-democratic” efforts to a “malignant tumor” spreading across the country.
“This malignant tumor has to be addressed and cut out or it will continue to grow and spread and decimate freedoms all across the land,” Jeffries said.
The hearing comes after Frost and House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., penned a letter to committee chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., urging him to call a hearing to investigate Florida’s “efforts to undermine democracy.” When the Kentucky Republican did not respond, Frost and other lawmakers scheduled their own hearing.
DeSantis has signed a number of restrictive bills into law as Florida’s governor, such as taking aim at how schools teach about race, sexuality and gender identity As he mounts his bid for the White House, DeSantis has pitched his record in Florida as a blueprint for what he might do as president.
“In Florida, we didn’t lead with mere words. We followed up our words with deeds, and we have produced a record of accomplishment that we would put up against anybody in this country,” he said when announcing his candidacy.
