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‘They Didn’t Block AP European History’: WH Press Secretary Blasts DeSantis for Banning Class on African American History

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blasted Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis for banning public schools from teaching AP African American history, while not banning a similar class on European history.

DeSantis, who is expected to launch a run for President, has been using his office to build a collection of authoritarian edicts that he frames as pro-parent.

Calling the ban “the latest in a series of actions to keep conversations and lessons about race, sexuality and gender identity off the state’s school campuses,” The Guardian reports DeSantis defended his decision by claiming the class violates state law and “lacks educational value.”

“These types of actions aren’t new,” the Press Secretary told reporters Friday, stressing, “especially from Florida.”

READ MORE: Former Top Trump ‘Loyalty Cop’ John McEntee Testifies Before Grand Jury: CNN

DeSantis has been waging war on minorities in the Sunshine State, including signing into law his “Don’t Say Gay” legislation last year, and recently calling for it to be expanded.

“It is incomprehensible to see that this is what this ban–or this block, to be more specific–that DeSantis has put forward. If you think about the study of Black Americans, that is what he wants to block and, again, these types of actions aren’t new, especially from what we’re seeing from Florida, sadly,” the Press Secretary told reporters Friday, as National Review noted.

“Sadly, Florida currently bans teachers from talking about who they are and who they love. As we’ve talked about many times here in this briefing room, they have banned more books in schools and libraries than almost every other state in the country,” Jean-Pierre noted.

“And let’s not forget,” she observed, “they didn’t block AP European History. They didn’t block our music history. They didn’t block our art history. But the state chooses to block a course that is meant for high-achieving high school students to learn about the history of arts and culture. And it is, you know, it is incomprehensible again, and I will just leave it there. Leave it there to make your own to make your own determination. of why this occurred and why this happened. Again, it is not our place to to direct or to to be involved in any local school curriculum. But this is concerning,” she stressed.

Banning the elective AP African American history class is one of several bans DeSantis has imposed on what he likes to call “the free state of Florida.”

READ MORE: Experts Blast Chief Justice’s ‘Sham’ Leak Probe: ‘When Is an Investigation Not an Investigation?’

The GOP governor of the Sunshine State bragged earlier this week he would ban anyone from mandating COVID mitigation efforts. That includes private companies who want to keep their employees and customers safe. That includes mask and vaccine requirements, and vaccine “passports.”

Florida ranks eighth in total coronavirus cases per capita and thirteenth in total coronavirus deaths per capita. DeSantis calls his state a “refuge of sanity” in a press release announcing his anti-protection proposals.

Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic Clinical Instructor, Alejandra Caraballo, on Wednesday noted, “DeSantis is now demanding all information regarding ANY gender affirming care provided by Florida State Colleges and Universities. This would include treatments provided for trans college students enrolled at state universities.”

She adds, “it looks like DeSantis is set to turn the Florida University system into a conservative indoctrination system that will be hostile to and force out LGBTQ and BIPOC students.”

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News

Judge Rebukes Trump Admin for Defying SNAP Payment Deadline

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15 hours ago

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November 6, 2025

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A federal judge chastised the Trump administration for defying his order issued last week to fully distribute SNAP payments by Monday, or at least partially by Wednesday. The administration had said it would release 65 percent of the funds but offered no timeline for doing so.

Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island sharply rebuked the Trump administration “for what he said was defying his order to make full SNAP payments by Nov. 5,” Politico’s Kyle Cheney reported on Thursday. “He has ordered USDA to make the *full* payment to states by tomorrow.”

“It’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here,” McConnell said, according to Cheney.

READ MORE: ‘Make Lots of Trump Babies’: Dr. Oz Highlights Midterm Goals

The judge alleged that “Trump and his allies have admitted to withholding SNAP benefits for ‘political reasons’ rather than to preserve child nutrition programs, which the judge said was a pretext,” Cheney also reported.

Judge McConnell cited a Truth Social post President Trump made in which he vowed to hold up the SNAP funds. The President wrote that food stamp benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

The White House later walked back the President’s remarks, claiming he was referring to any future shutdowns.

The judge “said Trump’s Truth Social post was essentially an admission of his ‘intent to defy the court order,'” according to Cheney.

“The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund SNAP,” McConnell said, according to the Associated Press. “They knew that there would be a long delay in paying partial Snap payments and failed to consider the harms individual who rely on those benefits would suffer.”

READ MORE: Democratic Rep. Interrupts Speaker Johnson — Accuses Him of ‘Lies’

 

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‘Make Lots of Trump Babies’: Dr. Oz Highlights Midterm Goals

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18 hours ago

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November 6, 2025

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Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, shared a few of his goals for next year’s midterms with reporters.

Speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday, Oz promoted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” platform.

“We’ve dropped the [price of] infertility drugs to make lots of Trump babies — I’m hoping by the midterms,” he told reporters, as HuffPost reported.

READ MORE: ‘Clown Show’: House Dem Leader Slams ‘Divorced From Reality’ Senate GOP Head

Praising President Donald Trump’s plan to lower prices on popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs, Oz said, “America will have to get fit in order to rightsize the health care system.”

Dr. Oz has talked about making “Trump babies” before.

“Now I know what you’re all thinking, and you’re probably right, that there are going to be a lot of Trump babies,” Oz said in October at a White House event focused on making in vitro drugs more accessible. “I think that’s probably a good thing.”

“But it turns out the fundamental, creative force in society is about making babies,” he continued. “It’s about creating. And this country, the one that President Trump is leading so beautifully has been a country of abundance, not scarcity.”

READ MORE: Democratic Rep. Interrupts Speaker Johnson — Accuses Him of ‘Lies’

 

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‘Clown Show’: House Dem Leader Slams ‘Divorced From Reality’ Senate GOP Head

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19 hours ago

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November 6, 2025

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As the federal government shutdown enters its 38th day with no end in sight, the Speaker of the House and the House Democratic Minority Leader appear united — on one aspect only: blaming the Senate.

Amid reports that a few Senate Democrats might agree to vote to reopen the government if Republicans guarantee a date-certain vote on restoring the Affordable Care Act subsidies, Speaker Mike Johnson appeared to attempt to scuttle that potential bargain on Thursday.

Asked if he would assure that the House would vote on restoring the Obamacare subsidy funding, which would be the basis of a Senate deal, Johnson refused.

READ MORE: ‘Really Hurting’: U.S. Job Cuts Surge to Decades-Level High Amid Trump Recession Fears

“No, because we did our job, and I’m not part of the negotiation,” the Speaker told reporters on Thursday. “The House did its job on September 19th” when it passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through November 21. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has effectively declared that legislation is dead, unless he can change the end date.

“I’m not promising anybody anything,” Johnson continued. “I’m gonna let this process play out.”

Over on the Democratic side of the aisle, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted the Senate Majority Leader.

“Not a partisan thing, a patriotic thing: We have to decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis,” Jeffries declared.

“And John Thune is divorced from reality,” he charged.

“I mean, it’s a clown show over in the Senate,” Jeffries continued.

READ MORE: Democratic Rep. Interrupts Speaker Johnson — Accuses Him of ‘Lies’ 

“Fourteen, fifteen times, you bring the same partisan Republican spending bill?” he said, referring to the House-passed continuing resolution that Leader Thune has been putting before the Senate several times a week.

“Expecting a different result? That’s the classic definition of legislative insanity. Doing the same thing, over and over and over again,” he said while blasting Thune, saying he “has no ability to actually negotiate in good faith.”

Weeks ago, Jeffries told MSNBC, “what I’m saying is that we need an ironclad path forward that decisively addresses the Republican healthcare crisis.”

“In terms of the Affordable Care Act, you know, this is a group of people, Republicans, who have tried to repeal the Affordable Care more than 70 different times since 2010. They can’t be trusted on a wing and a prayer. We need a real path forward to address the crisis that Republicans have visited upon the American people in terms of healthcare, the cost of living, and affordability.”

READ MORE: Trump to Talk About Cost of Living Next Year White House Says

 

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