Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, has once again shown her skill at question dodging, but this time the topic was Florida’s new Parental Rights in Education Law. She did so by claiming that the new law would fail because it did not address any “real issues,” but made it a point to ignore any questions put forth by Peter Doocy, the Fox News White House correspondent.
Psaki has stood against this law in Florida before this, calling it “horrific” and making the claim that the bill made it legal to just bully children who identified as LGBTQ+. Doocy followed up as part of a press briefing held on Monday in order to ask a more targeted question about the actual substance.
While making a reference to the new law, which totally bans the classroom instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms across the state from kindergarten through third grade, Doocy questioned Psaki about what age the White House thought such lessons would be appropriate.
DOOCY: "At what age does the White House think that students should be taught about sexual orientation and gender identity?"
PSAKI: "This law…is politicians in Florida propagating misinformed, hateful policies that do absolutely nothing to address the real issues." pic.twitter.com/bgdKLafk1M
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 4, 2022
“At what age does the White House think that students should be taught about sexual orientation and gender identity?” posited Doocy.
“Well, I would say first of all, Peter, we have spoken to the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in the past I believe is what you’re referring to,” responded Psaki, making use of the malicious nickname given to the law by the groups that oppose it, despite the fact that the word “gay” is not only not banned by the new law, but does not appear anywhere in the law at all.
“As we look at this law, what we think it’s a reflection of is politicians in Florida propagating misinformed, hateful policies that do absolutely nothing to address the real issues,” she stated but did not deign to answer his question at all.
“The Department of Education is well-positioned and ready to evaluate what to do next and — its implementation — whether its implementation violates federal civil rights law,” continued the press secretary. “But note that parents across the country are looking to national, state, and district leaders to support our nation’s students, to ensure that kids are treated equally in schools and that is not – this is certainly not a reflection of that.”
In response, Doocy pressed the question once again, making it even more clear for the second asking. “So if you guys oppose this law that bans classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in K through 3, does the White House support that kind of classroom instruction before kindergarten?”
Psaki still refused to answer his question, instead, redirecting to ask if Doocy had any concrete examples of schools in the state where that had been taking place.
“I’m just asking for the president’s opinion,” stated Doocy in response.
“I think that’s a relevant question,” exclaimed Psaki, still refusing to answer Doocy’s original question. “I think that this is a politically charged, harsh law that is putting parents and LGBTQ+ kids in a very difficult, heartbreaking circumstance, and so I actually think that’s a pretty relevant question.”
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