As the chaotic Republican presidential primary drags on, GOP presidential hopefuls have found a new fault line: a messy back-and-forth about (checks notes) whether some enslaved people benefited from slavery. 

Last week — even in the face of bipartisan opposition to Florida’s new, extreme education curriculum standards — DeSantis doubled down by arguing IN FAVOR of a curriculum that claims some African Americans benefited from slavery.

Washington Post: “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is intensifying his efforts to de-emphasize racism in his state’s public school curriculum by arguing that some Black people benefited from being enslaved and defending his state’s new African American history standards that civil rights leaders and scholars say misrepresents centuries of U.S. reality.

“‘They’re probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life,’ DeSantis said on Friday in response to reporters’ questions while standing in front of a nearly all-White crowd of supporters.”

DeSantis’s comments have led some Republicans to rebuke the Florida governor for his defense of the state’s new education standards. 

CBS News: “GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, the sole Black member of Florida’s congressional delegation, is at odds with the state Education Department and Gov. Ron DeSantis, after criticizing a clarification in middle school instruction standard on Black history. According to the standard, instruction includes ‘how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.’” 

NBC News: “‘As a country founded upon freedom, the greatest deprivation of freedom was slavery. There is no silver lining … in slavery,’ Scott — like DeSantis, a GOP presidential candidate — said here in response to a reporter’s question after a forum with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. 

“‘What slavery was really about was separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating,’ Scott said. ‘So I would hope that every person in our country — and certainly running for president — would appreciate that. People have bad days. Sometimes they regret what they say. And we should ask them again to clarify their positions.’” 

Bloomberg: “Will Hurd said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his rival for the Republican presidential nomination, should take responsibility for a new state curriculum that calls for teaching that slavery gave enslaved people valuable skills.

“‘Implying that there is an upside to slavery is absolutely wrong,’ said Hurd.”

MAGA Republicans are busy arguing about whether some enslaved people benefited from slavery and railing against children’s freedom to learn our full history when they should be discussing how to provide relief for hardworking families. 

NBC News: “Speaking with reporters in Albia, Iowa, on Friday, DeSantis responded to Scott’s comments by criticizing ‘D.C. Republicans’ for promoting a similar argument as Harris.

“‘I think part of the reason our country has struggled is because D.C. Republicans all too often accept false narratives, accept lies that are perpetrated by the left and accept the lie that Kamala Harris has been perpetrating, even when that has been debunked,’ he said.

“‘That’s not the way you do it,’ he added. ‘The way you do it, the way you lead is to fight back against the lies, is to speak the truth. And so I’m here defending my state of Florida against false accusations and against lies, and we’re going to continue to speak the truth.’”

“‘That’s not the way you do it,’ he added. ‘The way you do it, the way you lead is to fight back against the lies, is to speak the truth. And so I’m here defending my state of Florida against false accusations and against lies, and we’re going to continue to speak the truth.’”