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Summary

This Stephen Colbert Monologue Made Fun Of Florida For Its Math Book Ban & It 'Doesn't Add Up'

"Ground zero for the cultural wars is Florida, aka 'America's Mullet.'"

A closeup of Stephen Colbert on his "Late Show" show set. Right: Stephen Colbert working at home.

A closeup of Stephen Colbert on his "Late Show" show set. Right: Stephen Colbert working at home.

Florida Associate Editor

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has dominated headlines with the recent House bills that passed in the Sunshine State. A new decision rejected 54 of the 132 math textbooks reviewed for Florida's education system.

Late-night talk show host, Stephen Colbert, began his opening monologue and dragged the latest ruling as the focus of one of his bits.

"This weekend we learned that Florida rejected 41% of new math textbooks. At least, they think it's 41%. For some reason, they suck at math," said Colbert to a laughing crowd.

Lawmakers believe some of these books discussed Critical Race Theory, which is why they were rejected. The comedian explained that Florida failed to show passages that met the criteria, but that Florida described the review process as "transparent."

"I guess they also banned dictionaries," said Colbert, "because that's not what 'transparent' means."

He then wrapped up his Florida punchlines by making up a math problem about cocaine in regards to Congressman Matt Gaetz, who was reportedly caught with the drug in 2021.

While the audience laughed at his monologue, this is not the first time he's talked about the governor. He includes politics into his jokes frequently and even posted an Instagram video recently about Governor DeSantis.

Many other comedians have used Florida as the butt of their jokes, as well. Another late-night show host, Trevor Noah, hopped on the same material and poked fun at the textbook rejection, as well. We also saw Wanda Sykes at the Oscars targeting the "Don't Say Gay" Bill.

Comedians must be on their toes for what news might come out of Florida next.

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    • Associate Editor

      Jenna Kelley (she/her) was the Associate Editor for Florida at Narcity Media, where she oversaw all of the editorial content across the Sunshine State. She started her career in broadcast media as a television news reporter for three years. In 2020, Jenna won a Georgia Association of Broadcasters (GABBY) award for Best Online Produced Story. She's covered live concerts, reported at the Masters Tournament, and interviewed state senators during election season. Prior to working at Narcity Media, she made her way home to Florida and launched a copywriting business. Jenna received her B.A. in English with a minor in Communications at Florida State University. She has over five years of experience from print and digital media to radio and television.

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