MSNBC Analyst Declares DeSantis ‘Authoritarian’ For Proposing Schools Take Away Phones During Class

MSNBC columnist and New York University professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat opined that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was “so dangerous in every way” and “authoritarian” after he recommended that students be prevented from using their phones during class at a press conference.

“Why are these kids on their phones during class all the time?” asked DeSantis, before suggesting that schools have students “leave their phone in some cubby or something, go sit in class and learn” before returning the phones at recess.

“They should not be on their phones being distracted from the lessons,” he concluded.

Ben-Ghiat said this was further evidence of his “authoritarian personality,” prompting mockery from a number of conservatives, including DeSantis’s deputy press secretary Jeremy Redfern, who said he hoped she could “find peace during this difficult time.”

He is so dangerous in every way. Truly an authoritarian personality https://t.co/SrRFfjdJRw

— Ruth Ben-Ghiat (@ruthbenghiat) January 24, 2023

Various reports and studies indicate that children’s screen time has skyrocketed and academic performance has suffered since the start of the pandemic.

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, both reading and math scores for children in fourth and eighth grade fell precipitously between 2019 and 2022 while the gaps between white and minority —  as well as low and high-income — students widened.

Ben-Ghiat is touted as a “commentator on authoritarianism and propaganda” by MSNBC and previously warned in a column that DeSantis would “turn back the clock on social progress in America by silencing and disenfranchising tens of millions who don’t fit into Republicans’ white Christian vision for the nation,” citing his opposition to mask mandates and opposition to critical race theory being taught in public schools as evidence.

In a segment on the Rachel Maddow Show last year, Ben-Ghiat also accused DeSantis of setting up a “regional power base.”

“Remember at the height of the pandemic, he invited policemen and others who didn’t want to submit to tyrannical mask mandates to come and be free in Florida,” said Ben-Ghiat before explaining that he was “setting himself up as the kind of nemesis of federal government, and that’s a very subversive and extremist thing to do in my book.”