The NAACP is missing out on a chance to make a difference on race relations by instead issuing a travel advisory for Florida because it believes Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' policies show hostility toward people of color, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told Newsmax on Monday.
The NAACP issued the travel advisory Saturday, stating, "Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color."
"The tragedy is the NAACP could have a very important role to play in race relations," Huckabee, a Republican presidential candidate in 2008 and 2016, told "Eric Bolling The Balance." "But years ago, they abandoned that, and they no longer are an organization about race relations.
"They are simply a front for Democrat Party left-wing politics, and it's tragic because there are issues they could be playing on, but they're not and getting into this is absurd, and they've made a joke of themselves by saying, 'Oh, don't come to Florida. It's not safe for you.'"
DeSantis has been heavily criticized for a parental rights in education bill that prohibits classroom instruction related to gender and sexual orientation. It also restricts the use of gender pronouns in classrooms.
DeSantis also has signed legislation banning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives in public colleges, as well as laws against the teaching of critical race theory and prohibiting state and local governments from investing through environmental, social, or governance factors.
"This is absurd and everybody who has ever been to Florida knows that it's absurd," Huckabee said. "And I think Ron DeSantis gets the last laugh on all of this nonsense."
The NAACP advisory mentions "people of color" from traveling to Florida, and South Florida, particularly Miami, is heavily populated by citizens with Hispanic and Latin American backgrounds.
"The most freedom-loving people I've ever met in my entire life are the Cuban Americans of South Florida," Huckabee said. "They know what freedom looks like because they had to run from a tyranny in order to embrace freedom.
"I love the people of South Florida and to say that somehow Florida doesn't appreciate freedom and doesn't appreciate expression, it's nonsense."
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