American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten admitted to sharing an incorrect list of books banned in Florida in a tweet.
“I should have double checked before I retweeted this list. My bad. Looks like some of the books weren’t banned. Book bans are very real [and] dangerous,” she said on Sunday.
The AFT president included the screenshot of the tweet which said they were “Books we have taught for generations!!!!!”
In addition to her apology, the teacher’s group leader added, “Book bans are very real [and] dangerous.”
Included in the incorrect list of books included “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” and “The Lord of the Flies,” as well as a number of other books.
I should have double checked before I retweeted this list. My bad. Looks like some of the books weren’t banned. Book bans are very real & dangerous. For an accurate list go to red, wine & blue https://t.co/ohR4ntMYZW & pen america https://t.co/r5AZbNgoTQ pic.twitter.com/AU3F5E9BaP
— Randi Weingarten ☮️???? (@rweingarten) August 22, 2022
The false list was a retweet from an account called “Freesus Patriot” which regularly posts content about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), former President Donald Trump, and other Republican causes.
According to Fox News, the same account didn’t divulge where the information came from but said, “I’m not going to say where this list came from due to protecting sources.”
They went on to say “if this list is wrong then I invite [Ron DeSantis] to publicly state the books on this list will not be banned in Florida schools [and] he intends to protect student’s rights. I will take it down if he does.”
The account responded to a now-deleted tweet, saying, “Satire is dead. The unholy hell this unleashed from the right did make me laugh though,” seemingly in response to the backlash over the book list.
“I really thought the list was THAT obvious for satire so I had to thread actual books banned and was dumbfounded to find some are actually on this list,” the social media user said.
Satire is dead. The unholy hell this unleashed from the right did make me laugh though. I really thought the list was THAT obvious for satire so I had to thread actual books banned and was dumbfounded to find some are actually on this list. SMH https://t.co/HsLmJz1wzi
— Freesus Patriot™ (@CGSDemocracy) August 22, 2022
The AFT president’s re-tweet was met with derision as a number of users called out the list, including political and communications consultant, Frank Luntz who said, “That list is fake, Randi. Notice that there’s no link to a source for it.”
DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin also responded to a different tweet on the subject where “A Worried Citizen,” claimed that “Florida bans the Pulitzer Prize winning novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.'”
Completely false. It is recommended reading by the State of Florida in the 8th grade.
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) August 21, 2022
The best the left can do nowadays is try to make people think their own failures belong to someone else.https://t.co/IF7MExClMk
“Completely false,” Griffin said. “It is recommended reading by the State of Florida in the 8th grade. The best the left can do nowadays is try to make people think their own failures belong to someone else.”
