Iowa deemed 'Florida of the north' after midterm 'red wave'
Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks joins 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss her state's shift to the right and the upcoming House hearing on TikTok.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, hit back Wednesday after a Washington Post report that called the Republican-led state the "Florida of the North" for its new school choice legislation.
Miller-Meeks said on "Fox & Friends First" that the state is flourishing and voters are making it known which policies they prefer on education.
"You just have to watch the U-Haul traffic to see where people are going. They're not going to high-tax blue states with bad Democratic governments that want to lock people down, mandate vaccines and keep schools closed," she told Todd Piro and Ashley Strohmier.
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Republican Govs. Kim Reynolds of Iowa (left) and Ron DeSantis of Florida team up at an event in Davenport, Iowa, on March 10, 2023 (And to the Republic )
The Washington Post accused Iowa Republicans of "targeting the LGBTQ community" in a hit piece Monday and of making the state the new "Florida of the North."
"Republicans in the Iowa legislature, empowered by the state’s recent ‘red wave,’ have embarked on an ambitious new agenda that includes a costly school choice bill and legislation targeting the LGBTQ community, a historic divergence from Iowa’s history as a civil rights bastion," Washington Post reporter Annie Gowen wrote.
"A joke among statehouse reporters is that Iowa is becoming the ‘Florida of the North’ — without the beaches," she added.
Miller-Meeks joked that they actually thought Florida is the "Iowa of the South" and applauded Gov. Kim Reynolds for championing liberty even during the coronavirus pandemic.
Reynolds has introduced legislation preventing elementary schools from teaching young children about gender identity, similar to a parental rights bill passed last year in Florida.
Miller-Meeks said it's the left that is pushing "fringe" policies in schools, specifically with gender ideology and pronouns.
"What's fringe is schools that will change the pronouns of your student, your child, and help your child along the pathway of gender-changing surgery, puberty blockers, without telling a parent. That's what's fringe.
"What's fringe is schools not opening, curriculum that's hidden from parents. So I think we made it known what we were campaigning on throughout the election season and we were elected by a large margin in Iowa."
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The Post mentioned Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, 10 times in the article, portraying her as a culture warrior on "gun rights," "school choice" and "abortion access."
Fox News' Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.
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