Kamala Harris criticises ‘extremists’ in Florida for new curriculum suggesting some benefitted from slavery
Kamala Harris said “extremists” want to “replace history with lies” after Florida’s educational standards changed the way slavery will be taught in schools.
The vice president travelled to Jacksonville on Friday to condemn new guidelines, approved by the state’s board of education this week, which she said include instructions for middle school students saying some enslaved people benefitted from the skills they learned.
“They dare to push propaganda to our children. This is the United States of America. We’re not supposed to do that,” she said.
“Adults know what slavery really involved. It involved rape. It involved torture. It involved taking a baby from their mother. It involved some of the worst examples of… depriving people of humanity in our world.
“How is it that anyone could suggest that in the midst of these atrocities that there was any benefit to being subjected to this level of dehumanisation?”
While she did not mention Republican presidential candidate and Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, by name, she referred to “extremist, so-called leaders”.
Mr DeSantis, who has battled the Walt Disney company over its criticism of a law in his state banning the discussion of sexuality and gender in the classroom, said the new curriculum was needed to prevent liberal indoctrination and accused Ms Harris of attempting “to demagogue” and politicise history.
He said he was not involved in devising the education board’s standards but defended the parts about how enslaved people benefitted.
But he added: “I think – I think what they’re doing is, I think that they’re probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into, into doing things later in life.”
He continued: “These were scholars who put that together. It was not anything that was done politically.”
Pic: AP
In a statement, the governor also said: “Democrats like Kamala Harris have to lie about Florida’s educational standards to cover for their agenda of indoctrinating students and pushing sexual topics onto children.
“Florida stands in their way and we will continue to expose their agenda and their lies.”
Ms Harris, the first black person to serve as vice president, spoke at the Ritz Theatre and Museum in the historically African-American neighbourhood of Jacksonville.
She described “true patriotism” as “fighting for a nation that will be better for each generation to come” and said schools would better prepare students for the world if they don’t gloss over historical crimes.
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“Let us not be seduced into believing that somehow we will be better if we forget,” she said.
“We will be better if we remember. We will be stronger if we remember.”
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former “thug” and “pit bull”, has been accused of lying about a phone call he says he made to the former US president about payments to ex porn star Stormy Daniels.
Cohen, a lawyer who worked for the Trump Organisation from 2006 to 2017, has been giving evidence in the case about hush money payments to Ms Daniels – in an attempt to cover up an alleged sexual encounter in 2006.
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, called into question an important detail – a phone call made by Cohen to Trump’s assistant, Keith Schiller, on 24 October 2016.
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Cohen, 57, has maintained that during that call he spoke to Trump (who was either given the phone by Mr Schiller or placed on loudspeaker – we don’t know which) and told him he had paid Ms Daniels $130,000 in hush money on his behalf.
But Mr Blanche called this into doubt – showing the jury a number of interactions suggesting Cohen was in contact with Mr Schiller about a different issue at the same time, namely that he was receiving harassing phone calls and texts from a 14-year-old child.
“That was a lie – you did not talk to President Trump on that night, you talked to Keith Schiller about what we just went through,” Mr Blanche said.
Cohen said that, based on his records, he believes he spoke to Trump about the Stormy Daniels matter.
“We are not asking for your belief,” Mr Blanche said. “This jury does not want to hear what you think happened.”
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Donald Trump in court on Thursday. Pic: Reuters
That exchange was part of several hours of questioning which apparently sought to paint a picture of Cohen as someone who is eager to see his former boss behind bars.
Mr Blanche played jurors audio clips of Cohen saying the case “fills me with delight” and that imagining Trump and his family in prison made him feel “giddy with hope and laughter”.
“Does the outcome of this trial affect you personally?” Mr Blanche asked.
“Yes,” Cohen replied. He is due to return to the witness stand on Monday.
Michael Cohen (right) was Donald Trump’s fixer. Pic: AP
Cohen worked as the former president’s fixer. He once described himself as Trump’s “spokesman, thug, pit bull and lawless lawyer”.
He once said he would take a bullet for his boss and admitted at the end of questioning on Tuesday that he “violated my moral compass” while working for Trump.
Hush money payouts are not illegal, but Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide it – a claim he denies.
US
Ex-US army sergeant convicted of killing Black Lives Matter protester in 2020 pardoned by Texas governor
A former US army sergeant who killed a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020 has been issued a full pardon.
Daniel Perry was convicted of murder after shooting an armed demonstrator, 28-year-old Garrett Foster, an Air Force veteran, during the nationwide anti-racist protests that swept the US and the world in 2020.
He was being held in a state prison on a 25-year sentence since his conviction in 2023.
That was until Texas governor Greg Abbott issued a full pardon for the former soldier on Thursday.
Mr Abbott announced the pardon just minutes after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles said it had made the unanimous recommendation that Perry be pardoned and given back his firearm rights.
The Republican governor had previously ordered the board, which he appoints, to review Perry’s case and said he would sign a pardon if recommended.
Mr Abbott’s demand for a review followed pressure from former Fox News star Tucker Carlson who, on national television, urged the Republican politician to intervene following Perry’s conviction.
As far back as April of last year, Mr Abbott tweeted: “I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry.”
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Perry was jailed after prosecutors successfully used his social media history and text messages to portray him as a racist and someone who may commit violence again.
Mr Foster, who is white, had been legally carrying an AK-47 while marching in a Black Lives Matter protest when Perry killed him.
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July 2020: Protesters flee gunfire in Texas
Perry was working as a ride-share driver in July 2020 and turned his car into a street crowded with demonstrators, shot Mr Foster, and drove off.
Prosecutors argued at trial that Perry could have simply drove off without opening fire.
Witnesses testified that they did not see Mr Foster raise his gun but Perry’s representatives in court claimed Mr Foster did raise his rifle, leaving the former soldier with no choice.
Perry, who is also white, did not take the witness stand and jurors deliberated for two days before finding him guilty.
In a statement posted on X, Mr Abbott said: “Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive district attorney.”
Joe Biden and Donald Trump have agreed to two head-to-head live televised debates in June and September.
After months of speculation about whether the traditional presidential debates would go ahead, the US broadcaster CNN has announced that a primetime debate will take place at its global headquarters in Atlanta on 27 June at 9pm.
ABC will host a second debate, scheduled for 10 September, just under two months before the election on 5 November.
For weeks, former President Trump has been using social media and rallies to goad President Biden into taking part in a debate.
“Anytime. Anywhere. Anyplace,” Mr Trump has repeatedly said.
Amid speculation over whether President Biden would be prepared to expose himself to the pressure and jeopardy of a live debate, the president used a radio interview in late April to confirm he would be “happy” to.
“I am happy to debate him,” he said. “I am, somewhere. I don’t know when,” he told SiriusFM radio host Howard Stern.
That revelation prompted back-channel conversations between staff from the two campaigns to agree a format.
The debates will bypass the presidential debate commission that traditionally coordinates the process.
Biden and Trump during a presidential debate in Nashville in 2020. Pic: Reuters
Mr Biden’s team have insisted that the two debates do not include a live audience, a move the Trump team are understood to have agreed to.
An hour before CNN announced that it would host the first debate, President Biden released a clip on X confirming his willingness to take part.
“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate,” President Biden said.
“Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald.”
In a jibe at Mr Trump’s court case in New York, which doesn’t sit on Wednesdays, Mr Biden added: “I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”
‘He can’t put two sentences together’
Donald Trump responded with a lengthy statement on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
“Crooked Joe Biden is the WORST debater I have ever faced – He can’t put two sentences together! Crooked is also the WORST President in the history of the United States, by far,” he said.
“It’s time for a debate so that he can explain to the American People his highly destructive Open Border Policy, new and ridiculous EV Mandates, the allowance of Crushing Inflation, High Taxes, and his really WEAK Foreign Policy which is allowing the World to ‘Catch on Fire.'”
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The former president continued: “I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September.
“I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds – That’s only because he doesn’t get them. Just tell me when, I’ll be there. ‘Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!'”
The summer and autumn clashes, to be moderated by as-yet unannounced star anchors, promise to be box office occasions with huge jeopardy for both candidates.
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