Fox News anchor abruptly shuts down Dem senator who claims Florida law was designed to 'target gay kids in schools'

Fox News anchor Bret Baier called out Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Sunday after he made a dishonest claim about Florida's Parental Rights in Education law.

The dishonest claim was made in response to highly divisive remarks President Joe Biden made last week when he claimed the "MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that’s existed in American history, in recent American history."

What happened?

While speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Murphy claimed that Florida lawmakers have engaged in a campaign to "target gay kids in schools."

"I am very concerned about the sort of very quick, hateful, divisive turn that the Republican Party has taken," Murphy claimed. "This effort in Florida to sort of target gay kids in schools, I just think is mean-spirited and something that I had not seen from the Republican Party when I first started out in politics 20 years ago."

Baier immediately interjected.

"Hold on, I’m going to interrupt you. To target gay kids in schools? The bill is about not talking about sexual identity from K through third grade. That’s not targeting gay kids," Baier pushed back.

"Yes it is. It is absolutely is," Murphy shot back. "It is sending a message to these kids that they are not worthy, that they should be ashamed of their identification."

Sen. Murphy: This will push a lot of people to the pollsyoutu.be

When Baier attempted to explain what the law says, Murphy claimed the Florida law tells students who identity as LGBT that they "are not worthy of existence in that school."

"Senator, do you talk to your kindergartner about sexual identity?" Baier then asked.

Murphy, however, did not answer the question, but began repeating the leftist narrative that advocates for young children to be taught about sexual and gender identity.

"Half of trans kids in this country have contemplated suicide, and that’s because of the effort to bully them for their identity by adults in this country," Murphy claimed. "So I absolutely do think that there’s a message sent to these kids when you suggest that a conversation about their identity is somehow threatening the education of kids in our schools."

"With your children, did you talk about sexual identity as a kindergartner?" Baier pressed. "I mean, you don’t talk about the birds and the bees, let alone the birds and the birds, at that age, kindergarten through third grade.”

Murphy did not answer the question.

What is the truth about the Florida law?

As Baier correctly noted, the Florida Parental Rights in Education law does not "target gay kids" as Murphy claimed.

Instead, the law mostly reinforces parental rights in education; hence its name. Regarding classroom instruction, the law prohibits teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity for students K-3. Opponents of the law falsely called it the "don't say gay" bill. The law neither prohibits the use of specific vocabulary nor uses the word "gay."

Surveys show voters overwhelmingly approve of the law when it is described accurately.