Left-wing social media users used an Associated Press fact-check that defended Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., in an attempt to smear his administration.
Associated Press reporter Philip Marcelo published a fact-check on Saturday about the claim that the Republican governor is requiring "all female student-athletes in the state" to provide "detailed information" regarding their menstrual cycles in order to compete in school sports. Although the article was titled "Florida weighs mandating menstrual cycle details for female athletes" and featured an image of DeSantis, Marcelo ruled the claim as "false."
"The Florida High School Athletic Association is weighing the recommendation from an advisory committee, but no final decision has been made. DeSantis’ education commissioner is a member of the association’s board of directors and the commissioner also appoints three others, but the association is a private nonprofit organization, not a state agency under the purview of the governor’s office," Marcelo wrote.
However, this didn't stop various left-wing commentators from attacking DeSantis by insisting that his administration was mandating the regulation on menstrual cycles.
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"This is authoritarianism. Full stop," former Ohio state Sen. and progressive activist Nina Turner tweeted.
American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten wrote, "This is dystopian. And creepy. And government intrusion. Forcing girls to detail their menstruation to their schools, to the state, should scare everyone."
"We weren’t hysterical when Trump was elected. We knew," former Missouri representative candidate Jessica Piper wrote.
TechRepublic writer Jack Wallen tweeted, "What the actual hell? This is not only an invasion of privacy, but it's unethical."
"Huh?" former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams asked, adding, "Government should stay out of personal and familial health decisions… but under penalty of law, you must have your daughter track and report her periods? What am I missing? Seriously?"
Staffers from DeSantis' office responded to the false attacks. Rapid response director Christina Pushaw and deputy press secretary Jeremy Redfern responded to Adams, who currently works as Purdue University's health equity director, pointing out that Florida is not the only state to consider the requirement.
"Purdue’s ‘Health Equity director’ is apparently unaware of the questions on Purdue Athletics’ forms," Pushaw wrote, displaying a questionnaire requesting females offer the date of their last menstrual cycle.
"WHY WOULD FLORIDA DO THIS?!?!? Just kidding. This is Hawaii’s form," Redfern tweeted, showing forms from the Hawaii Department of Education.
Adams doubled down on the tweet, criticizing Redfern and others in a thread for allegedly "missing the point."
"A few people (maybe intentionally?) missed the point of this thread. I wasn’t arguing against the policy. I find it confusing that some are against asking vaccine status but okay asking about periods- and cite importance of AAP + AAFP (who recommend kid covid vax) compliance," Adams tweeted.
His last tweet read, "And finally, I never mentioned a certain Governor. In fact I specifically linked to an article saying (so far) he hasn’t weighed in on the new policy. But I do hope FL will consistently follow the advice of major medical organizations moving forward, and not just in this case…"
Some conservative users pushed back against Adams and other accounts for appearing to not read past the headline in order to attack DeSantis.
"2.8 million people viewed this tweet from Nina Turner believing it was true. One problem: This is an AP fact-check that states the claim is completely false. Bad job Turner. Bad job AP for a completely misleading headline in a world where most people don't read past the headline," Fox News contributor Joe Concha tweeted.
Journalist Ian Miles Cheong wrote, "You have once again beclowned yourself."
"Read the article clown," Florida’s Voice Editor-in-Chief Brandon Leslie urged.
Political commentator "AGHamilton29" wrote, "The reason Nina used a screenshot instead of linking to the article is that it's an AP fact-check that labels the viral claim as false. She was either too lazy to read past the headline or intentionally dishonest."
Mediaite commentator Isaac Schorr tweeted, "The thing about being a conservative is that you are immediately able to discern, at a glance, that the headline and image were explicitly chosen to deceive readers."
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Additional context was later added to Turner’s tweet reading "The Florida High School Athletic Association is weighing updates to its Participation Physical Evaluation form to help address amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea amount female athletes. The Association is not a state agency and not under the purview of Gov. DeSantis."
