Nikki Fried Trashes DeSantis, Claims the ‘Whole Country is Laughing at Florida’ and Accuses Him of Promoting ‘Homophobic Hate Speech’

The highest-ranking statewide Democrat Nikki Fried, who is also running for governor, trashed Florida Gov Ron DeSantis today in a series of tweets after he defended the Parental Rights in Education bill at a press conference Friday.

Liberals have dubbed it the “Don’t say gay” bill in an attempt to derail the legislation, which is aimed to protect young students from being exposed to sexualized language in schools.

Fried first retweeted a clip from NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” that aired last night where they mocked the bill in a skit.

Kate McKinnon stops by the Update desk to discuss Florida's Don't Say Gay Bill pic.twitter.com/NjLd7HXXXq

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) March 6, 2022

“The whole country is laughing at Florida because of Ron DeSantis. Not because he’s funny, but to keep from crying,” Fried claimed in a follow-up tweet.

The whole country is laughing at Florida because of Ron DeSantis.

Not because he’s funny, but to keep from crying.

— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) March 6, 2022

On Friday, DeSantis’ press secretary Christina Pushaw had tweeted, “The bill that liberals inaccurately call ‘Don’t Say Gay’ would be more accurately described as an Anti-Grooming Bill.”

Pushaw then added in a reply, “If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4-8 year old children. Silence is complicity. This is how it works, Democrats, and I didn’t make the rules.”

That triggered Florida State Rep Carlos G Smith who declared in a quote tweet that was retweeted by Fried, “#DeSantis’ spokesperson openly accused opponents of #DontSayGay of being ‘groomers’— aka PEDOPHILES. Bigoted attacks like this against LGBTQ people are the worst of the worst. They’re disgusting and dangerous and have NO PLACE in the Guv’s office. @ChristinaPushaw must resign.”

#DeSantis’ spokesperson openly accused opponents of #DontSayGay of being ‘groomers’— aka PEDOPHILES. Bigoted attacks like this against LGBTQ people are the worst of the worst. They’re disgusting and dangerous and have NO PLACE in the Guv’s office. @ChristinaPushaw must resign. https://t.co/UAMjvIELBx pic.twitter.com/xbIXpmX5Eb

— Rep. Carlos G Smith (@CarlosGSmith) March 6, 2022

Fried then urged in a tweet, “Support @equalityfl.”

Support @equalityfl. 🏳️‍🌈

— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) March 6, 2022

“Homophobic hate speech has no place in society— yet it’s allowed and promoted with our tax dollars in @GovRonDeSantis’ office,” Fried insisted in another tweet.

Homophobic hate speech has no place in society— yet it’s allowed and promoted with our tax dollars in @GovRonDeSantis’ office.

— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) March 6, 2022

DeSantis explained at the press conference on Friday, “When you actually look at the bill and it says ‘no sexual instruction to kids pre-K through three,’ how many parents want their kids to have transgenderism or something injected into classroom instruction? It’s basically saying for our younger students, do you really want them being taught about sex? And this is any sexual stuff. But I think clearly right now, we see a focus on transgenderism, telling kids they may be able to pick genders and all of that.”