Politics

Jim Vondruska/Getty ImagesEvangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats was given the floor during an interview with The Blaze’s Steve Deace, launching into former President Donald Trump after a week which saw the pair’s ongoing feud reach epic new proportions.President and CEO of The Family Leader, a Christian conservative group based in Iowa, Vander Plaats has become increasingly vocal about his dislike of the Donald. In May, he told NewsNation that he was done for good with the former president, and that voters were “exhausted and tired” and it was time to “turn the page.”Last week, the influential leader announced his endorsement of Ron DeSantis—much-needed fuel for the Florida governor’s flailing campaign.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/PENI recently joined PEN America—the venerable nonprofit organization devoted to protecting free expression—as the inaugural director of a new Florida office. As I gathered around the Thanksgiving table last week, I had many thoughts about the state of Florida.Some may be surprised that my overwhelming thought was one of gratitude.After all, PEN America is opening this office since Florida has become an incubator for censorship, with a pernicious model for book banning and restrictive laws like the “Stop WOKE Act” and the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law as blueprints for other states. PEN America’s latest report shows Florida surpassed Texas on book bans, with over 40 percent of all book bans nationwide occurring in school districts in Florida. Across 33 school districts, PEN America recorded 1,406 book ban cases in Florida.Read more at The Daily Beast.