OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is overruling President Joe Biden, saying he’s “totally off his rocker.”
Speaking to the media, DeSantis said Florida will fight back against Biden’s clueless and destructive policies.
“In Florida, we are fighting against Biden’s intentionally destructive policies like denying school lunches for states that refuse to implement woke gender ideology in the schools,” DeSantis said.
He continued: “We’re prepared for what Biden throws our way. And, you know, yes, part of it’s the inflation and the gas — part of it are intentionally destructive policies like trying to deny school lunch programs for states that don’t do transgender ideology in the schools.”
“I mean, give me a break,” he added. “Totally off his rocker to be doing that. We’re fighting on that, don’t worry. So we’re just prepared to be able to defend the taxpayers and the hard-working people in the state of Florida, and I couldn’t be prouder for doing that.”
In Florida, we are fighting against Biden’s intentionally destructive policies like denying school lunches for states that refuse to implement woke gender ideology in the schools. pic.twitter.com/YXpTky75Jn
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) June 5, 2022
DeSantis’ comments were in response to reports that the Biden administration is using lunch money to hold “school districts hostage.”
Last week, the head of a conservative advocacy group said in response to the Department of Agriculture’s announcement that it would require certain schools to allow trans students to use the bathroom of their preferred gender.
“Schools awarded money from the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), an agency within USDA, must specify in their policies that discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation is prohibited, the department announced in May. It also said allegations of such discrimination must be investigated,” Fox News reported.
“What you’re seeing here is really the Biden administration saying ‘you’re going to do what I want or I’m going to take your lunch money,’” Fight for Schools Executive Director Ian Prior told Fox News. “For the federal government to come in and really tie school nutrition and school lunch programs to this radical ideology is terrifying, and it’s appalling.”
The announcement “essentially amounts to the Biden administration holding states and local school districts hostage with school lunch money that goes to underprivileged youth in order to pass transgender non-discrimination policies,” Prior told Fox News.
The USDA said its announcement is part of President Biden’s executive order extending Title IX to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports,” the order states.
Prior told Fox News: “I honestly have no idea how providing food to children in schools is somehow connected to transgender policies. What we see here is the Biden administration using children as pawns in this social justice, gender ideology game that they are playing.”
“Whether you are grocery shopping, standing in line at the school cafeteria, or picking up food from a food bank, you should be able to do so without fear of discrimination,” Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Deputy Under Secretary Stacy Dean said in a statement.
“It is clear what they are trying to do here, which is a federal takeover of school systems throughout the country based on this radical gender ideology,” he told Fox News.
The USDA is reportedly planning to propose the regulation sometime this month. It will then be open for public comment for several months before it can be implemented.
“I think what the Biden administration is doing here is going to be subject to significant legal challenges,” Prior said. “They are going to find themselves in litigation over these issues for years, perhaps until the end of Biden’s term.”
