Florida officials predict that contributions to the state’s education system from the state lottery will decrease this fiscal year by $270 million.
Officials at the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research forecast that Florida Lottery and other sources such as slot machines will transfer $3.12 billion to the various education trust funds, which includes $560 million left over from the previous fiscal year.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have agreed to participate in a debate hosted by Sean Hannity on Fox News, pitting two younger, Generation X governors seen as standard bearers of their respective parties against each other for 90 minutes.
First discussed between Newsom and Hannity when Newsom was interviewed by Hannity in June, the proposal was made into an official request by Newsom’s office last week, according to Politico, with suggested dates for November 8 or 10.
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The Florida Department of Education (DOE) is rejecting the College Board’s claim that its Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology course was banned from the state’s public school classes, according to a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The College Board, an academic organization that administers and writes high school courses for college credit, claimed on Thursday that the Florida DOE had “effectively banned” its AP Psychology course because they cannot modify the course to comply with the state’s guidance prohibiting age-inappropriate lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation in Pre-K-12 classrooms. The Florida DOE clarified that it has not banned the course from its state’s schools and that the class still remains listed in the 2023-2024 course directory, according to a statement to the DCNF.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and law enforcement officials are sounding the alarm over opioid deaths occurring in the Florida panhandle.
According to newly published data, the panhandle has the highest per capita opioid death rate in the state.
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The board appointed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to govern Walt Disney World Resort in Florida will abolish all in-house diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, according to an announcement on Tuesday.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, formerly known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, was reconstituted by the Florida state legislature in February, which replaced the district’s existing board with DeSantis’ appointees. The board will abolish “all DEI programs” and DEI-based contractor requirements, according to a press release on its website.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled his economic plan to revamp the U.S. economy at a presidential campaign event in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Monday.
He launched his “Declaration of Economic Independence” platform at a manufacturing facility with local business owners and workers suffering from 40-year high inflation, higher costs and regulatory burdens resulting from what he says are Biden administration policies.
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A report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General says Florida failed to comply with state requirements for its foster care system regarding prescription drugs.
According to the report, Florida failed to comply with requirements for documenting psychotropic and opioid medications prescribed to children living in the Florida Safe Families Network (FSFN), which is also a federal requirement in order to receive funding.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is laying off more than one-third of his campaign staff as he falls in 2024 presidential primary polls.
The cuts are across multiple departments and will amount to 38 positions, including the roughly 10 event planning staffers whose positions were axed earlier this month, according to Politico.
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Several teachers unions are seeing a decrease in their revenue due to a Florida law that prohibits automatic paycheck deductions, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Florida teachers unions of both public schools and universities filed a revised lawsuit and injunction against the state’s dues-deduction ban that went into effect July 1, arguing that the law has caused the organizations to suffer major revenue loss, according to the Tampa Bay Times. In June, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker declined the unions’ May injunction, arguing that granting one would “offer no redress for plaintiffs’ injuries.”
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An amended complaint was filed Friday by parents of transgender kids against the state of Florida over legislation it passed two months ago that bans sex change surgeries, trans hormones and puberty blockers for minors.
The amended complaint, filed by the Southern Legal Counsel and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation on behalf of the parents, alleges that Florida Senate Bill 254 prevents parents of transgender minors from making “necessary” medical decisions about their children’s health and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, according to the complaint. The complaint follows several past instances of groups suing the state over the legislation and seeks to enhance a preliminary injunction that was issued on the bill in June.
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Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking the state’s investment manager to consider legal action against Bud Light parent company AB InBev over recent controversial marketing tactics.
CNN obtained a letter Thursday that states DeSantis suggests that AB InBev “breached legal duties owed to its shareholders” when it decided to associate with “radical social ideologies.”
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Florida taxpayers are set to save millions of dollars after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that some of the Sunshine State’s debt had been paid down early.
A total of $400 million in state debt has been paid back through the Debt Reduction Program, designed to accelerate the payment of bonds before they mature and saving Florida taxpayers almost $34 million in interest.
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Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez says the $65 million appropriated by the Legislature will help Alzheimer’s and dementia patients with technology and resources.
Florida is home to more than 4.4 million people 65 and older, making up over 20% of the population. Because of this, Nuñez said at a news conference in Ocala on Wednesday that it has been a priority of leadership to make sure Floridians have the opportunity to live long, secure lives, and funding for Alzheimer’s and dementia will help achieve that.
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A super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president is launching a new television ad on Tuesday using an Artificial Intelligence-generated version of Donald Trump’s voice criticizing popular Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
The Never Back Down PAC ad features an AI version of Trump’s voice reading a post he made on Truth Social last week attacking Reynolds.
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The Middle District of Florida United States Attorney’s Office has announced the results of an investigation into fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March 2020, the Middle District U.S. Attorney’s Office, along with federal, state, and local law enforcement, combined resources to form the Middle District of Florida COVID-19 Fraud Task Force to investigate and prosecute cases of fraud that happened during the pandemic.
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A judge sentenced a 26-year-old Florida resident to 18 years in federal prison for aiding a foreign terrorist organization, according to a Department of Justice press release.
Muhammed Momtaz Al-Azhari of Tampa, Florida, was under FBI investigation beginning in December of 2018 for allegedly providing support to ISIS which is recognized as a foreign terrorist organization under federal law, court documents revealed. Agents arrested Al-Azhari after he engaged with a confidential human source (CHS) who he obtained a gun and silencer from in 2020.
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A fire that broke out on Thursday morning at a wildlife center in Florida killed hundreds of animals being housed in its facilities, authorities said.
The Alligator and Wildlife Discovery Center in Madeira Beach, near St. Petersburg, Florida, caught fire at around 2 a.m. local time on Thursday.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis announced this week that $487 million in state funds has been awarded to Florida communities impacted by recent hurricanes.
These grants are intended to help communities with infrastructure projects, rebuilding homes and providing better protection from storm surge flooding.
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Twelve Republican-led states have joined an amicus brief in support of Florida, which is being sued in federal court over a law that bans Chinese citizens from owning land in the state.
Florida’s Senate Bill 264, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 8 and went into effect on July 1, bans all Chinese citizens who are domiciled in China from buying, inheriting or receiving land in the state, while nationals of other “countries of concern” face land ownership restrictions. After the American Civil Liberties Union sued Florida on behalf of Chinese plaintiffs, Republican-led states have rallied to Florida’s defense.
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The Florida Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability released its 2022 report on the commercial sexual exploitation of children in Florida and it says that numbers were slightly lower than in 2021.
A total of 354 youths were verified as being victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation in Florida in 2022. This was slightly lower than in 2021, with 379 youth identified as victims of exploitation.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Monday called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to appear before the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking to account for how Meta is being used to facilitate human trafficking and sex exploitation.
Moody did so while announcing what she described as the “stunning” and “disturbing” findings of a statewide investigation that found that Meta platforms are being used more than any other social media platforms by human traffickers to commit crimes.
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A U.S. District court judge has blocked a Florida election law that criminalized noncitizens from collecting voter registration forms, a statute some say was aimed at Hispanic migrants and asylum seekers.
The law, which was overruled last week would have gone into effect this month, resulting in fines for as much as $50,000 against non-citizens “collecting or handling” voter registration forms.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted the best first fundraising quarter of any non-incumbent Republican candidate in over a decade, according to campaign finance data.
The DeSantis for President campaign raised $20 million in six weeks, surpassing the amount the Trump campaign raised during its first two fundraising quarters combined.
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The Board of Trustees at the New College of Florida submitted a $2 million budget request to the state legislature Thursday in order to establish a “Freedom Institute” that will seek to combat “cancel culture” in higher education.
The trustees, a majority of whom were appointed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, say that the new institute will allow for the expression of dissenting views, according to the board’s July 6 meeting agenda, which outlines the proposal for the institute. The institute will also honor a commitment to upholding the right to free speech and will prompt civil engagement.
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Driver’s license classes in five states have been singled out as no longer valid in Florida, in accordance with legislation that took effect Saturday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 presidential candidate, said Wednesday the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has published a list of classes by state which are invalid because people living in or entering the country illegally can obtain them in Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, Vermont or Hawaii.
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by Bethany Blankley The Florida State Guard welcomed its first graduating class of more than 100 soldiers who recently completed their training program and requirements. They are the first class of members of the Florida State Guard since 1947. Gov. Ron DeSantis first proposed reestablishing the State Guard in December 2021. Within months, he reestablished it to lessen the burden of an understaffed and over-stretched Florida National Guard and to hire servicemen and women being forced out of the U.S. military over the federal vaccine mandate, he said. By June of last year, over 1,200 people applied to join the new state guard – three times the amount of open positions. One of its newest recruits was a former New York resident who said he moved to the lower-taxed and less regulated “free state of Florida.” “I am proud to welcome the first class of Florida State Guard members since 1947,” DeSantis said in a statement. “Even though the federal government has underfunded our National Guard, we are ensuring that we have the manpower needed to respond during emergencies. I’m proud of these men and women who answered the call to take on this important mission. When the need is greatest in their…
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More than 2,200 new recruits to Florida law enforcement agencies have been awarded bonuses through a new program launched last year, with those moving to Florida from 48 states and two U.S. territories.
Florida was the first state to launch such a recruitment program last year and has since issued over 2,265 bonuses. Florida’s Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Program awarded more than $15 million bonuses officers in fiscal 2022. The $5,000 bonus includes a $1,694 payment to cover federal income taxes so the net each receives remains $5,000. Florida does not assess an individual income tax. Each new recruit receives a gross bonus of $6,694.
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Florida public universities will have a harder time accepting grants or working with the People’s Republic of China and other “countries of concern” due to a recently enacted law.
Senate Bill 846, which became effective on July 1, prohibits “state universities and state colleges from accepting grants from or participating in partnerships or agreements with a college or university based in a foreign country of concern or with a foreign principal unless specified conditions are met,” according to the legislative summary.
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With one of the fastest-growing populations in the U.S., Florida’s electricity consumption is steadily rising.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Florida is the second-largest electricity producer nationally, second to Texas. Natural gas fuels the vast majority of electricity in the state, accounting for three-fourths of the state’s net generation capacity.
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Sixteen states attorneys have asked members of two manufacturers groups to continue to include AM radios in new electric vehicles.
In a letter led by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and signed by 15 other attorneys general, Moody asked the Electric Drive Transportation Association and the Zero Emission Transportation Association to continue including AM radios despite reported interference caused by electrical equipment, which hasn’t prevented some manufacturers from continuing AM radio production.
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XPO Logistics employees ousted the Teamsters Union from their workplace after colleagues in other states also successfully ousted them with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
In Hialeah, Florida, XPO Logistics employees, led by Martin Garcia, successfully voted to oust Teamsters Local 769 union officials from their workplace.
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Florida law enforcement officers and Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution have shut down a trafficking ring in the Orlando area. The group is responsible for pushing large quantities of narcotics, including fentanyl laced with xylazine, into the area.
Moody’s prosecution team is scheduled to prosecute 12 people on drug trafficking charges who are accused of trafficking cocaine, fentanyl, xylazine and amphetamine in the Orlando area.
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The College Board refused to revise its Advanced Placement courses in response to new Florida laws limiting school instruction on controversial sexual topics.
The board, a nonprofit that produces the SAT and Advanced Placement programs, “will not modify our courses to accommodate restrictions on teaching essential, college-level topics,” it stated in a recent news release.
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by Bethany Blankley Leaders from Florida law enforcement agencies are praising Gov. Ron DeSantis’ fiscal 2023-2024 budget, which prioritizes public safety to the tune of several hundred million dollars. The budget allocates salary increases for correctional officers, enhancements to officer safety, and additional mechanisms to combat the fentanyl crisis stemming from the southern border. Over the last year, law enforcement leaders statewide have acknowledged that Florida is benefiting from a 50-year record-low crime rate. Year-over-year crime in Florida is also down nearly 10%, according to state data. Florida’s new “Framework for Freedom Budget” allocates an additional $20 million for a second round of $5,000 recruitment bonuses for new recruits and those who relocate from out of state. The budget also allocates $110 million to provide one-time recognition bonuses for eligible local first responders and nearly $100 million to boost pay for correctional and probation officers. Since last July, when the Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Program was launched, over 2,000 people have joined Florida law enforcement agencies. Among them are nearly 600 new recruits from out of state with over 200 relocating from New York, California, Texas and Pennsylvania. Florida Sheriffs Association president and Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said…
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Approximately 9% of America’s corporations moved headquarters since the beginning of 2022, the highest rate since 2017, with most corporations moving to Florida, Texas, and Arizona.
The states that corporations were most likely to abandon were Washington, New York, and California.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis noted in an interview that he preferred baseball over basketball partly because the latter is played by guys who are “just freaks of nature.”
Speaking to the Christian Broadcasting Network, the 2024 GOP presidential candidate said baseball is a “thinking man’s game” that requires special skill sets, Newsweek reports.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill last week that will expand prohibitions on direct-to-consumer auto sales in Florida while exempting electric car manufacturers such as Tesla.
House Bill 637, sponsored by state Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, prohibits legacy automakers from offering online sales or direct-to-consumer options if the licensee has existing dealerships that sell its vehicles in the Sunshine State.
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The state of Florida filed a lawsuit this week to challenge federal collaboration with accreditation organizations to usurp recent reforms to the Sunshine State’s higher education system.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida on Thursday with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
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A federal judge struck down Florida’s prohibition on Medicaid coverage for sex-change treatments, a rule previously set up by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Robert Hinkle, a U.S. District Judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton, ruled that Florida’s ban on Affordable Care Act coverage for puberty blockers and hormone therapy for people in Florida violated equal protection rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Hinkle called the rule “purposeful discrimination” and said the ban was instituted by DeSantis and the Republican-controlled legislature “for political reasons.”
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A recent follow-up audit from the Florida Auditor General’s office found several issues with the Lee County School District’s lack of oversight.
According to the audit, the school district had failed to properly investigate claims of alleged unemployment benefit fraud during the spring of 2020. The audit states that the district’s board and the superintendent were emailed about the alleged fraud but failed to produce evidence that the matter had been properly investigated externally and resolved. In response to the audit, the school district began an investigation in February 2023.
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Florida has provided over $100 million in down payment and closing cost assistance for nearly 7,000 veterans, active-duty service members, nurses, teachers, first responders and law enforcement officers as more Americans continue to relocate to the Sunshine State.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislature created the Hometown Heroes Housing Program to help those who serve their country and their communities to be able to afford to live where they serve.
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Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California claimed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida was among those who “weaponized” the issue of men competing in women’s sports.
“I think the trans issue has — has come on as a more divisive issue in the context, particularly of sports, where it’s also been weaponized, and issues around pronouns,” Newsom said during a Wednesday interview with Fox 11 reporter Elex Michaelson. “I remember the first time I was on Zoom, and all of a sudden I saw these different pronouns. And that even took me, I was like, ‘What’s this?’ I didn’t fully understand that.”
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Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the state’s record-setting budget on Thursday which will increase state employee salaries, spend $1.6 billion on restoring the Everglades ecosystem and speed up infrastructure projects across the Sunshine State.
House Bill 2500 is the General Appropriations Act and the state budget for fiscal year 2023-24. Dubbed the “Framework For Freedom Budget” by the DeSantis administration, the bill provides $117 billion in state funding for projects across the state, including increases in education funding, teacher salaries and recruitment bonuses to attract more law enforcement officers.
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The College Board, the organization that oversees the administration of Advanced Placement (AP) tests and courses, has declined to alter the contents of its materials to comply with Florida law restricting the discussion of certain sexual topics in public schools.
Florida bars discussion of those matters from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. The state previously limited such discussion from kindergarten through the third grade, but expanded the measure. The state had previously asked the College Board to review its materials to determine which of its courses would require adjustment to comply with the expanded state guidance.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Wednesday honored out-of-state police officers who relocated to Florida, the majority of whom have relocated to Pinellas County.
As part of her Thin Line Tribute: Sunshine Salute Series, she met with them at a press conference at the St. Petersburg Police Department.
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by Mary Lou Masters Miami’s conservative Mayor Francis Suarez announced Thursday morning he’s seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2024, joining an increasingly growing GOP primary field. Suarez filed the paperwork to run for president with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Wednesday. The 43rd Miami mayor’s announcement comes ahead of his official campaign launch speech Thursday evening at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in Simi Valley, California. The mayor’s announcement makes him the third presidential candidate from Florida, along with his governor, Ron DeSantis, and former President Donald Trump. Suarez has the backing of a political action committee (PAC) SOS America, who has already begun fundraising for the mayor, and released a campaign-like advertisement video harping on his record in Miami for cutting taxes, decreasing crime and bolstering the business community. “America needs a leader ready to act — Francis Suarez will not back down,” the video said. “A father, a husband and a proud believer in American exceptionalism. Protecting American families, supporting law enforcement and defending the American dream — this is Miami Mayor Suarez’s Miami Model.” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is running for President https://t.co/uTeOzqHM9U — Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 14, 2023 Before being elected as the city’s first Miami-born mayor in…
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Tax revenue in the Sunshine State is exceeding projections, according to a recent report from the Office of Economic and Demographic Research.
General revenue collections for April showed a gain of $384.8 million, 7.9% higher than what was forecast by the General Revenue Estimating Conference held in March with 72% of that revenue from corporate income tax.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been working for months on plans to tear down and rebuild both the Department of Justice and the FBI, consulting with experts and members of Congress to develop a “Day One” strategy to end what conservatives see as the weaponization of the justice system.
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Loyola Marymount University President Timothy Law Snyder recently wrote an op-ed for the Miami Herald arguing Ron DeSantis is on the losing end of the woke battle in education since most students today are already socially liberal by the time they enter college.
Snyder suggests that DeSantis is out of touch with undergraduates, stating, “Has DeSantis met the college students of the year 2023? If he has, he has somehow missed entirely their makeup and conviction.”
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Actress Denée Benton directly compared Republican Florida Governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis to the “Grand Wizard” of the Denée Benton (KKK) in a speech delivered Sunday night at the 2023 Tony Awards show.
Benton made reference to “the current Grand Wizard — I’m sorry, excuse me — governor of my home state of Florida” at the Tony Awards, an annual ceremony for Broadway plays and musicals. Her equation of the conservative governor to the national leader of the KKK received applause from the New York City audience.
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