White House accuses Ron DeSantis of cancel culture after Florida expands ‘don’t say gay law’ which Karine Jean-Pierre says censors classes in what is mean to be ‘a free country’

The White House issued stinging condemnation Thursday of Florida’s expansion of its ‘don’t say gay’ law, essentially accusing the state of censoring classes in a reverse form of cancel culture.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described the move by the Florida Board of Education as ‘dystopian.’

A day earlier it approved a ban on classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding regulations that already applied up to grade three.

It marked another win for Gov. Ron DeSantis as he prepares the ground for an expected presidential run. 

Jean-Pierre turned her fire on the decision from the White House podium and called out what she saw as Republican hypocrisy.

The Parental Rights in Education law — nicknamed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law by detractors — was signed last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis and sparked a firestorm across the country

‘Under threat of having their licenses revoked, gay teachers have been forced to take down pictures of their spouses from their desks and censor their classroom materials,’ she said.

‘Censoring our classes is not how public education is supposed to work in a free country. 

‘Conservative politicians love to complain about the so-called “cancel culture,” all while threatening teachers with losing their jobs if they teach something that the MAGA extremists don’t agree with.’

The Parental Rights in Education law — nicknamed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law by detractors — was signed last year by the governor and sparked a firestorm across the country. Critics claim it could harm children who identify as gay and transgender.

While the previous version of the law prohibited instruction of these topics to children ages 5 through 8, the expansion means it will now apply to students up to the age of 18.

The new rule – which will now apply to grades four to 12 in the state after previously capping at 3rd grade – comes as DeSantis is touring the early primary contest state of South Carolina, where he railed against ‘ woke ‘ issues like transgenderism.

Republican voters, meanwhile, are still waiting for him to announce his highly anticipated run for President as he ramps up his war with Disney and while Donald Trump keeps up his attacks.

Florida’s Education Department approved a rule on Wednesday that expands Ron DeSantis’s so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law to include prohibiting the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation in all public school grades

A Trump super PAC released an ad last week calling DeSantis ‘pudding fingers’ – referencing claims he ate chocolate pudding with his hands on a flight – and criticized his past calls to cut Social Security and Medicare. 

‘It is wrong for a teacher to tell a student that they may have been born in the wrong body or that their gender is a choice,’ DeSantis said during his remarks in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday morning.

‘So we don’t let that happen in Florida,’ he lauded. ‘Disney objects to that, well so be it, we’re going to do that.’

Disney’s CEO-at-the-time came out against the Parental Rights in Education after DeSantis signed the law, sparking a now year-long war between the corporation and Florida’s governor.

The DeSantis administration put forward the proposal last month to expand the law as part of his agenda aiming to make Florida the ‘Citadel of Freedom’ where ‘woke goes to die.’ 

DeSantis has not commented on the proposal. 

‘If you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat,’ he said at his event in South Carolina on Wednesday in reference to pushing through several Republican-agenda laws in his time as governor.

The governor previously directed questions about the law to Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., who said the new rule was meant to clarify confusion around the existing law and reinforce that teachers should not deviate from existing curriculums.

‘We’re not removing anything here,’ Diaz Jr. said on Wednesday. ‘All we are doing is we are setting the expectations so our teachers are clear: that they are to teach to the standards.’

The DeSantis administration put forward the proposal last month as part of his agenda aiming to make Florida the ‘Citadel of Freedom’