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- Florida Democrats are challenging Ron DeSantis' book under his own education laws, per The Daily Beast.
- They argue that the book could run afoul of his own laws on race and gender concepts in schools.
- "The very trap that he set for others is the one that he set for himself," one Democrat said.
Florida Democrats are attempting to turn the tables on Gov. Ron DeSantis by requesting his new book be reviewed under laws pushed through by his own party, The Daily Beast reported.
Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell told the outlet she is leading the effort to ask 50 Florida counties whether the governor's book — "The Courage To Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival" — is suitable under laws ushered in by the Florida GOP for school libraries.
Bills like HB1467 mandate that collections be reviewed by specialists charged with ensuring they contain no pornographic or non age-appropriate material.
But it has been criticized as overly sweeping and vague, causing confusion across school districts.
"The Courage To Be Free," released in February, is widely seen as laying the ground for a presidential run by DeSantis, and Florida Democrats believe it touches on topics that his own laws could bar.
Per the Beast, it includes 17 examples of materials that Driskell believes could violate Florida law, including repeated references to "woke" and "gender ideology" — which DeSantis has decried as "divisive."
"The very trap that he set for others is the one that he set for himself," Driskell told the publication.
The book could also fall foul of the law by its summarizing of The New York Times' "1619 Project," as well as through a description of systemic racism, the Beast reported.
DeSantis vocally backed the Florida Board of Education's successful effort to ban Critical Race Theory in state classrooms in 2021.
Representatives for DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, sent outside of working hours.
DeSantis has been a leading actor in the GOP's culture-war activism, grabbing headlines for his ongoing fight with Disney over its opposition to his Parental Rights in Education Act, widely referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" bill for its restrictions on discussion of gender and sexuality in the classroom.
It's unclear how many school districts in Florida currently stock DeSantis' book.