Media praises Kamala Harris for her assertive stance against DeSantis.

After months of keeping a relatively low profile, Vice President Kamala Harris has once again drawn attention to herself with a series of ⁢very public attacks on Florida Governor and Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis.

Despite the fact⁣ that Harris is apparently unwilling to debate DeSantis publicly over the new⁤ Florida education standards – as he has​ challenged her to do – The Associated Press⁤ lauded the vice president’s “aggressive posture” in the face of things she believed to be ‌wrong.

“Her newfound aggressive posture is ‌a natural one, ‍Harris allies say, considering her background⁣ as a prosecutor ​who thrives on zeroing in on an opponent and ‌hammering their faults,” ⁣AP White House Reporter Seung Min​ Kim wrote with Will Weissert and Steve Peoples.

— Seung Min ⁢Kim (@seungminkim) August 2, 2023

While they expounded on Harris’⁣ ability to “hammer” the faults of her opponents,‌ they neglected to ⁣report the fact that her attacks on DeSantis and the Florida ‍education standards were predicated ​on a ⁣fundamental misreading of the curriculum in question —​ and her refusal to debate on‍ the subject belied more of a passive-aggressive posture than the “aggressive” ​one ‌for which they were praising ⁢her.

The one line in question in the Florida standards, cherry-picked and‌ presented without ⁢context, stated that slaves had “developed skills which, in some instances, could ​be applied ⁣for their personal benefit.”

Dr. William Allen, Florida’s African American History Standards Workgroup member, explained that Harris was actively promoting a ‍fundamental misunderstanding of the statement.

“As I stated in my response to the Vice President, it‌ was categorically false. It was never said that slavery ‍was beneficial to Africans,”⁣ he said. “What was said, and ⁢anyone who reads this will see ‍this with clarity: It is the case that Africans⁢ proved resourceful, resilient and adaptive. And were able​ to develop skills and aptitudes which serve ⁢to ‌their benefit, both while enslaved and after enslavement.”

But Harris went to⁤ Florida — her second trip in the‍ space of a week – and continued to promote that misreading of the curriculum.

“I’m here in Florida,” Harris said Tuesday at a convention of black women missionaries. “And I ​will tell you there is no roundtable, no lecture, no invitation we will accept to debate an undeniable fact: There were no ⁢redeeming qualities‌ of slavery.”

She even responded directly ⁣to ‌Allen, using the ‍same cherry-picked statement to ⁤suggest that he was ⁣lying about the content of the curriculum he helped to write.

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