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- [Rob] Coming up next, PolitiFact announces its Lie of the Year.

The Governor wants a new effort to ban critical race theory.

The legislative session begins next month and the budget picture looks good with help from Washington.

And Tampa Republicans accused a member of Congress of being a communist.

All this and more next on "Florida This Week".

(serious theatrical music) Welcome back.

For the past 12 years, the Pulitzer Prize winning fact-check organization, PolitiFact, owned by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg has been issuing what it calls the Lie of the Year, the most harmful and egregious claim it sees after a year of fact-checking.

In 2009, it was a claim that the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, would lead to the creation of death panels.

This week, PolitiFact's Editor Angie Drobnic Holan announce the worst claim of 2021.

- [Angie] The Lie of the Year for 2021 is the falsehoods and excuses we've seen about the January 6 insurrection.

All year, people have falsely claimed that the January 6 insurrection wasn't such a big deal.

Take a look.

- Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes taking videos and pictures.

You know, if you didn't know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.

- [Angie] They said it wasn't Trump's supporters contesting the loss of a fair election.

- [Protesters] Stop the Seal!

Stop the Seal!

- Republicans do not join protest mobs.

(protesters shouting) They do not loathe and they don't riot.

(protesters shouting) - [Angie] Some said the attack wasn't a threat to Capitol Police.

- [Pres.

Trump] It was zero threat.

Look, they went in as they shouldn't have done it, some of them went in and they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards.

(officer shouting in pain) - Katie Sanders is the managing editor of PolitiFact, joins us now with more on how they chose the Lie of the Year.

Katie, good to see you again.

- Thanks for having me.

- Were there many contenders?

Was this a tough year to pick the Lie of the Year?

- As always, there were a number of claims up for grabs this year.

Certainly, we saw a deluge of misinformation and disinformation around the COVID-19 vaccines.

Our readers thought that Donald Trump's claim that he won in a landslide should have been the pick.

And then there were statements Joe Biden made about Afghanistan and the withdrawal there.

But ultimately, we thought the denial and excuses offered around the January 6th attack merited the end of the year designation, because it would just became a persistent theme.

And this was something that was so heavily documented for all to see and the efforts to downplay what happened were just so brazen.

So we had to call it out.

- And because we've had hundreds of years of peaceful transitions of power between presidential administrations, did that factor in?

- Absolutely.

The history was very important when we were considering what to name Lie of the Year.

When we were thinking about it, we were struck by one federal judge who said that this had been, there hadn't been an attack on the Capitol like this since at least the war of 1812.

So you contrast that with excuses offered by lawmakers, influential pundits on Fox News and elsewhere, and it just doesn't add up.

So the history, and then again, just the evidence of what happened and how it was diluted, downgraded, denied all year long was just remarkable.

- Katie, at the beginning though, everybody, Democrats, Republicans, everybody in Washington, all the elected leaders who were there in Congress to certify the votes, everybody was critical of these protesters who broke into the Capitol.

And then as time went on, that changed and we began to see on television, some of the websites that are sponsored by Conservatives, that they changed their tune.

- Yes.

I mean, in the beginning, in the hours it was happening that night, we heard leaders like Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, say they were a guest and it was scary.

And something like that could never happen again.

But as soon as that night, you had other elected leaders, and even Fox News host Laura Ingraham, floating the possibility that this couldn't have been Trump supporters, Antifa must be involved.

Antifa being that kind of familiar group that's often blamed for mischief, rightly or wrongly, around the country.

No evidence then that Antifa was involved, and there has since been no evidence that it's been involved, but I think we hold that up as one of the more extreme examples of these lies around January 6.

And then other variations of the claims started trickling on out in the months to follow.

- So Katie, PolitiFact has been doing this since 2009 naming the Lie of the Year.

What kind of impact do you think this has had that you've been doing it for more than a decade?

Has it had an impact on political discourse or people fact-checking the country?

- Well, I think our routine fact-checking of politicians is probably where we have the most influence.

They know we're watching, they know we're listening, and they know that we and other fact-checking organizations and journalists, we'll hold them accountable and research what they're saying, search for evidence, ask for evidence.

So I think our regular fact-checking work is probably what has the most impact, but the Lie of the Year is a really nice time to look back and evaluate which of these lies, with these falsehoods, was the most destructive if unchecked?

And, you know, it's easy to move on and to kind of follow the political headwinds, if you will, that want us to move on, but we think it's important for democracy, for us to understand just how rough things can be and how even something that we all witnessed, if that can be distorted and people can kind of be told not to believe what they saw with their own eyes, what does that mean for the government we wanna have and the democracy that we have?

- And a Quinnipiac poll says it's 66% of the Republicans think that the attack was not that serious, according to Quinnipiac.

It's just an amazing thing.

Katie Sanders, thanks a lot for coming on "Florida This Week."

- Thank you for having me.

(soft serious music) - Joining us now on our panel, Deborah Tamargo is the President of the Florida Federation of Republican Women, Matt Dixon is the Senior Reporter at Political Florida, and Maya Brown is a Political Consultant and a Democrat.

What Governor DeSantis said this week they do push for legislation to ban teaching the concept of critical race theory in schools and to allow parents to sue schools if CRT is being taught, and to allow private employees to sue their employers if they receive critical race theory training on the job.

At a campaign style event, DeSantis told a packed room of supporters in Wildwood that he won't allow backers of critical race theory to erase U.S. history.

- It violates Florida standards to scapegoat someone based on their race, to say that they're inherently racist, to say that they're an oppressor or oppressed, or any of that, and that's good and that's important.

But we also have to realize that we got to do more to make sure that that actually carries the day in the classrooms and in our society.

- [Rob] Critical race theory is an academic approach used in law schools and universities as a way to explore how long-term systematic racism has affected American society.

There's no evidence it's taught in K through 12 schools in Florida.

Maya, I watched that press conference.

The Governor is very fired up about this issue.

What do you think about his proposed legislation to ban critical race theory?

- Well Rob, thank you so much for having me back.

I think this issue is one that we really have to pay attention to ahead of the 2022 election cycle.

And to be quite candid, Rob, the Governor is polarizing race and fanning flames on a make-believe fire that doesn't exist.

We do not have critical race theory in Florida public schools, but we should be teaching about true American history and how this country has disproportionately disadvantaged people of color, right?

The Governor is peddling this lie, that critical race theory by race, you know, what is the dividing kids by race?

Us taking money from public schools to fund charter schools, right?

We're dividing kids by race by ignoring the lived experiences of the ancestors of black and brown kids in our classrooms.

So we have to stop this Trump style type of politics and fearmongering, and actually talk about the issues that Floridian's are dealing with on a day-to-day basis, like the lack of affordable housing and the fact that we're still dealing with a global pandemic.

Deborah, let me ask you.

Where do you draw the line?

Where's the line between teaching black history and teaching critical race theory?

- Well, I think as the Governor said in his press conference that we want to treat history and teach history, the good, the bad, and the ugly, factually so, but not being taught in the way that critical race theory is being taught.

That there should be equal outcomes instead of equal opportunity and teaching children that they are less, or they are inherently racist if they are white or not black.

So I think there is a very fine line there in terms of the reality.

And I think there is a lot of prejudice that is being fostered, racism that's being created and turning blacks against white.

I recently had a great opportunity, was able to spend some time with Burgess Meredith.

And I like his quote in that is, "I am," and as you know he's a black man, and he said, "I am the American color."

And that's the way that most of us believe.

Yeah, they're always gonna be racists.

There's racists against whites, against blacks, against Latinos, they wanna call us Latin X now, so that's kind of like a dig.

It's an insult, but it exists.

- [Rob] I'm sorry to interrupt, but let me ask you about Maya's point.

She said that's not being taught in Florida schools, so why bring this up now?

- Well, it actually is being taught in various curriculums.

It's not being taught as critical race theory.

And it's not a matter of taking money, as Maya said, from public schools, giving it to voucher schools or charter schools.

Charter schools and voucher schools have saved so many minority children.

And the reason that Ron DeSantis won the election last time was because the parents, particularly the moms of minority children that had an opportunity to leave a failing school, they voted for Ron DeSantis and that's why he won.

Because they wanted an equal opportunity for their children they were not receiving in the public schools.

- Maya, let me go back to you on this one, though.

If it's not being taught currently in Florida schools, as you say, why do you think the Governor brought it up?

- I think we have to be very clear about what's going on.

I'm a black woman and a product of Florida's public schools.

It was actually just very recently in 2020 that Representative Geraldine Thompson filed a bill to ensure that we are actually teaching African-American history and also the history of the Holocaust in Florida public schools, because right now the Department of Education actually doesn't have that curriculum.

It isn't actually enforcing that.

So to Deborah's point, I'm unclear about where we're seeing critical race theory in curriculums in schools.

And also as a black woman, I think it's very important to be very clear about how public schools are actually dismantling the opportunity for black and brown folks to actually get ahead in Florida.

I think it's also really important here as the Governor continues to polarize and use CRT as this opportunity to really run for president in 2024, we actually have black folks and brown folks in Florida who are dealing with real problems and this isn't one of them.

And we have to do that, right?

If you wanna talk about how we have racial disadvantages, let's talk about how black people specifically have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Like there are real issues going on and this is not one of them.

- Matt, the Governor was very fired up about this when he had the press conference this week at Wildwood.

This is, I think, one of the culture issues, one of the culture war issues that's going on out there.

I think when the Governor first was elected, many people viewed him as a more moderate person because he made some Democratic appointees to its administration, but he's moved to a much more conservative position.

Would that be fair to say?

- Yeah, I mean, I think so.

When the governor was first elected, his transition team and largely the advisors around him tried to keep the Governor's approval rating very high.

And for a very long time, he was in public polling which isn't always accurate, you know, near 70%.

And that's when he was doing things like focusing on the environment and teacher pay, and those are things that have remained as part of his budget proposals and some of the things that he is espousing now.

But there's also a much broader, much louder issues that get more attention and get more focus from both the media side and also the administration side that could be framed the culture war type issues, illegal immigration, CRT, some of the things that we're talking about today.

So he has gone from someone who in his first, maybe year in office, I'd say maybe his first two legislative sessions, didn't necessarily shy away from those issues but did not use his massive platform to amplify them to someone who that's nearly kind of the sole focus.

Most of his press conferences now have a very, very distinct campaign field.

At the one on Tuesday he focused on CRT, afterwards, he was on stage throwing hats out to a crowd that was clearly from a local or Republican club.

There was audible cheering and stuff like that, which hasn't normally been the case at gubernatorial press conferences.

So there's an absolute sort of shift in sort of how he has portrayed himself, and certainly the things that he chooses to amplify and focus as governor.

- Let's continue talking about the Governor.

Last week, Governor DeSantis announced his nearly $100 billion state budget proposal for next year.

The Governor's budget plan relies heavily on federal stimulus funds from the Biden administration.

DeSantis wants to use those stimulus funds for his most politically popular spending programs, including a gas tax break and thousand dollar bonuses for police and teachers.

That sets up a scenario where the Biden administration could pay for policies that DeSantis will use to boost his own re-election campaign next year.

And our guest Matt Dixon broke this story.

Matt, tell us a little bit more.

How much does the Governor's budget proposal rely on funds from Washington and the Biden Rescue Plan?

- Well, it's important to look at the state budget.

It's at $99.7 billion budget, so it's a massive thing to look at it with some nuance.

So 99.7 is the top line, but there's actually, the state money is only about a third of any state budgets.

So money from general revenue from Florida is only about a third of that.

So there's almost about $35 to $40 billion worth of federal money in the state budget, which is normal.

That happens every year.

This year, a small slice of that, 3.5 billion which is from the Biden administration's Pandemic Relief Bill passed earlier this year, is getting a lot of attention.

And as you mentioned, that 3.5 billion, which the state doesn't have yet, but it expects this spring is sort of a final payment from that piece of federal legislation is being used to fund all of the politically popular things that you had talked about.

That the gas tax is one, and some of the other stuff, the teacher bonuses and the law enforcement bonuses.

Some of those things are all being funded, at least being proposed to be funded by money from the Biden administration.

It's important to know most of the items being funded from that pot of money where the subject of press conferences leading up to the budget announcement.

Every year, a governor will kind of do press conferences leading up to their formal budget rollout where they wanna amplify and highlight the things that they think are most important.

And most of the things that got that sort of a spotlight are now things that are likely gonna be funded by money from the Biden administration.

It should be noted, the Governor's budget is a proposal.

The legislature actually writes the state budget and on the back end the Governor has his real power with the veto pen.

But this legislature has been very deferential to Governor DeSantis.

He has a lot of sway with the legislature, so I would suspect his proposed budget is gonna get a lot of consideration from the Republican legislature.

- And Deborah, do you think that the Governor wouldn't be able to hand out some of these things like gifts?

I mean, additional pay to teachers and front line workers, first responders, without the Biden administration money?

- Well, let's be clear.

It is not the Biden administration money, it is our money.

And Florida disproportionately sends the bulk of the money to the federal government that then is redistributed to the State, so we never get really our fair share of it.

So it's our money.

It's the taxpayer's money.

It's not the Biden administration.

So the amount of money, we always have a large amount of money that literally comes back to us through the federal government, and we always fund what is the priority for the people.

This year, because of the inflation, and you can call that the Biden inflation.

He was warned by economist that his policies would create this inflation, disproportionately it affects working poor, working middle class, and one of the largest factors in this inflationary period has been the fact that gas has doubled.

Well, how do people that need to go to work that are lower income?

They have to buy gas to fuel their car to go to work.

We're not a transit community.

So refunding their money, it does nothing for the upper-class, that little bit of money, but it does help the lower working class.

- Maya, what do you think of the Governor's proposed budget relying on the Biden Rescue Plan?

- Well, Rob, I think it's funny what politicians will use for political expediency, including that of Martin Luther King quotes and quotes for black and brown people when it's convenient.

But I think relative to this point, we wouldn't have this money coming back down to the State of Florida if it weren't for us having Biden in the White House.

And I think we have to get very clear about that.

If the Trump won re-election, this would not be on the table.

Think about when governors in the past have taken the money, our taxpayer dollars, that went up to the federal government to expand Medicare, that didn't come back down to the State of Florida.

So yes, we have to acknowledge the fact that Democrats are delivering and that's because of Joe Biden and the Democratic majority in both chambers.

And DeSantis is doing a victory lap right now on the heels of Joe Biden and lying about him in the same breath.

And we as Democrats need to beat DeSantis to the punch and that this is happening because of the Biden administration.

And not wait to be on defense about unraveling these falsehoods.

- Let's move on to our next story.

The Hillsborough County Republican Party is paying for a billboard in North Tampa that shows a picture of Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor of Tampa, next to the words, Communism: Tampa's Number One Enemy.

Castor has been in Congress since winning her first race in 2006.

She's been re-elected by wide margins ever since.

But with redistricting underway, she now faces the possibility that her seat will no longer lean Democratic, and this could be the opening shot to weaken her re-election chances in 2022.

The Tampa Bay Times asked Hillsborough County Republican Party Chair Jim Waurishuk about the rationale for calling Castor communist.

Waurishuk noted Castor's role as Chair of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

Waurishuk said the committee is the leading proponent for the Green New Deal, a Trojan horse for communism.

His words, "Castor has opposed the Green New Deal, but she does support legislation to fight climate change."

Castor's office issued a statement saying the billboard shows just how extreme the Republican Party has begun or become, rather.

Let's start with Deborah.

Deborah, what do you think of this billboard linking Kathy Castor, the Congresswoman, to communism?

- Well, I think the billboard was in poor taste.

When you look at the billboard as a liberal Democrat, you see Kathy Castor communism.

When you look at it from the perspective of a Republican, communism is Tampa's number one enemy.

That's fine.

Okay.

We know there's a lot of marist as policies and so forth evolving throughout our country.

And then you have Kathy Castor vote Republican.

So we're like, "okay, so they've just made Kathy Castor a Republican, and they're saying vote for Kathy Castor."

So it's just the perspective that you have when you're looking at the billboard.

I don't prefer any of those kind of money sucking gimmicks.

It's a gimmick.

Everyone sees it for what it is.

- Let me ask you, Maya.

When the Infrastructure Bill was passed in November, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said it was Joe Biden's communist takeover of America, and Congressman Matt Gaetz of North Florida said the Infrastructure Bill was socialism.

This is a common claim now and it goes to roads and bridges and schools.

The Republicans are now claiming that when you spend money on that stuff, you're some sort of communist or socialist.

- You know, Rob, I can't keep up with the lies and where Republicans are going to choose their hill to die on for the day.

So I feel like, especially relative to this point about this billboard, I agree with Deborah.

It was distasteful and it was dishonest.

And we as Democrats, we're the big tent party for a reason.

We have the opportunity to have diversity of thought and ideas.

Sometimes we don't agree on how a policy solution should be implemented, but we can't necessarily, and this is what happens when Republicans like Congressman Gaetz and others continue to use their bully pulpit to say things like Congresswoman Castor is, because she's Chair of a Committee in Congress agrees with the Green New Deal.

No.

We need to talk about what Congresswoman Castor actually has done for her folks in Tampa Bay and know what she has delivered like making sure we have passed the Infrastructure Bill and other bills like the American Rescue Plan and others.

That's what we need to actually tell folks who are benefiting from policies such as these.

- Matt, the strategy of calling Democrats communist or socialist work during the last election in South Florida.

And we only have 40 seconds.

- Yeah.

I mean, I think this is the continuation of that.

Castro's seat is probably gonna get more competitive and she's gonna have a real race for the first time in a long time.

In Miami-Dade County in 2020, this sort of similar messaging was hit time and time and time again.

Democrats have not really figured out how to counter that, how to make sure that it doesn't get a foothold, and I think there are a lot of folks who are reading the tea leaves, seeing that Tampa Bay congressional district getting more competitive and this is gonna be the start of some of that similar messaging effort in the midterms in the Tampa Bay Region, Tampa Region.

- Matt Dixon, Maya Brown, Deborah Tamargo, thank you very much for joining us.

And thank you for watching "Florida This Week".

Please send your comments to us at FTW@wedu.org.

You can view this and past shows online at wedu.org or on the PBS app.

And "Florida This Week" is now available as a podcast.

You can find it on our website or wherever you download your podcasts.

And from all of us here at WEDU, have a great weekend.

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