Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has sworn off all MSNBC and NBC interviews until MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell apologizes, his press secretary says.
DeSantis’ press secretary, Bryan Griffin, tweeted Wednesday that bookers and producers from MSNBC and NBC News seeking to schedule DeSantis on their shows will be sent a “standard response from our office until [Andrea Mitchell] apologizes and your track record improves.”
To all of the bookers and producers reaching out to our office from @NBCNews and @MSNBC for @GovRonDeSantis to join your shows, this will be the standard response from our office until @mitchellreports apologizes and your track record improves. pic.twitter.com/8kQcLLEVzW
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) February 22, 2023
“I think we need to take a step back,” Griffin’s statement reads. “There will be no consideration of anything related to NBC Universal or its affiliates until and at least Andrea Mitchell corrects the blatant lie she made about the governor (‘[Governor DeSantis] says that slavery and the aftermath of slavery should not be taught to Florida schoolchildren’ — this is false), and NBC and its affiliates display a consistent track record of truthful reporting. Please feel free to pass this up and around the network.”
Mitchell claimed in a recent interview with Vice President Kamala Harris that DeSantis does not want “slavery and the aftermath of slavery” to be taught in Florida. (RELATED: NYT Columnist John McWhorter Says DeSantis ‘Did The Right Thing’ By Prohibiting AP African American History Course)
Mitchell gave a “postscript” to her show Wednesday afternoon and said she was “imprecise” after receiving criticism for her comments about DeSantis.
DeSantis in January rejected an AP course that included components of Critical Race Theory and queer theory, which the state of Florida banned from its school system. The governor has neither banned nor removed the study of black history or slavery from Florida’s education curriculum.