\u201cHe would have wanted each and every one of us to have robust debate over the things that he cared about: civil discourse and God and country,\u201d Porras said.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, he was somebody who was not able to be conquered with words or with debate, and that\u2019s why the left hates him. That\u2019s why people are saying he was a racist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Or it could be the many racially charged statements Kirk made, several of Porras\u2019 Democratic peers argued.<\/p>\n
HB 33 would rename a 1-mile stretch of Southwest 107th Avenue between Coral Way and Tamiami Trail as \u201cCharlie Kirk Memorial Avenue.\u201d<\/p>\n Porras, who called Kirk a personal friend, said the location is appropriate, as he helped found<\/a> Florida\u2019s first Kirk-run Turning Point USA chapter at FIU back in 2015.<\/p>\n He also noted that the city of Sweetwater had issued a resolution supporting HB 33. The roadway in question isn\u2019t in Sweetwater.<\/p>\n The measure would also authorize the renaming of a similar span of Commercial Boulevard in Broward County as \u201cPresident Donald J. Trump Boulevard\u201d \u2014 a provision, Porras said, that effectuates a prior resolution<\/a> by the town of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.<\/p>\n While the Trump road designation encountered pushback<\/a> from locals late last year, the bill\u2019s provisions concerning Kirk dominated the committee conversation Tuesday. Opponents argued renaming the road after Kirk \u2014 who was shot and killed by a lone sniper<\/a> at a Utah university campus Sept. 10 \u2014 had little true connection to Florida or Miami-Dade County, where the road in question runs.<\/p>\n They also raised issue with Kirk\u2019s rhetoric, including questions he raised about the qualifications of Black pilots<\/a>, references to \u201cprowling Blacks<\/a>\u201d targeting White people in urban areas and his perpetuation of the \u201cgreat replacement theory<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n St. Petersburg Democratic Rep. Michele Rayner quoted Kirk calling Martin Luther King Jr. \u201cawful\u201d and George Floyd a \u201cscumbag<\/a>.\u201d She recited another statement Kirk made about accomplished Black women like Michelle Obama, Joy Reid and Ketanji Brown Jackson as having to \u201csteal a White person\u2019s slot\u201d through affirmative action because they \u201cdo not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have three degrees \u2014 earned; nobody gave them to me \u2014 and I\u2019m a Black woman. You want me and my colleagues to sit up here and swallow rage and be forced to have a debate on a bill like this, to name a street after someone who doesn\u2019t even live in Florida, who was not a Florida citizen, because he\u2019s your friend?\u201d she said. \u201cI have a lot of friends I would like to \u2026 have bills for. I don\u2019t do that because it\u2019s inappropriate, it\u2019s unprofessional and it\u2019s disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Felicia Robinson, a Miami Gardens Democrat, called the legislation hypocritical in light of other measures the GOP-dominated Legislature has advanced, including laws passed in 2023<\/a> and 2024<\/a> to crack down on rising antisemitism in Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s disrespectful to try to memorialize someone or lift someone up that spewed so much hate in their life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Porras said Kirk did not discriminate against people based on any demographic characteristic and pointed out that the late activist had built or contributed to several minority-focused movements, including BLEXIT<\/a> and the Young Black Leadership Summit<\/a>, that have benefitted \u201ctens of thousands of African Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n Homestead Rep. Kevin Chambliss, who joined Rayner, Robinson and fellow Democrats Christine Hunschofsky, Gallop Franklin and Leonard Spencer in voting \u201cno,\u201d said that while he \u201cvehemently\u201d disagreed with most of what Kirk said, he was nevertheless \u201csaddened by the way this voice was taken from us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI would have loved to have had that debate with him and let him see that perspective from my eyes,\u201d Chambliss said, adding that he applauds Porras for sponsoring the bill while knowing the criticism doing so would draw. \u201cTough conversations (and) difficult debate, especially now, I promise you, will create a more peaceful world for our children later.\u201d<\/p>\n Chambliss\u2019 comments appeared to soften the stances of some Republicans on the panel, including Reps. Yvette Bennaroch, Chip LaMarca, Michelle Salzman and John Snyder, who echoed his sentiments in some fashion.<\/p>\n Salzman, of Escambia County, acknowledged that while it\u2019s a foregone conclusion that the House will pass HB 33 because of the chamber\u2019s Republican supermajority, her support of the measure isn\u2019t a blanket endorsement of the increasingly divisive rhetoric that erupted in the wake of Kirk\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n \u201cI personally, and I know some of my colleagues I\u2019ve talked to in our caucus \u2014 we don\u2019t support or condone some of those things that have happened, even in the recent history,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n LaMarca, of Lighthouse Point, stressed the importance of respectful dialogue.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we stop talking, what\u2019s going on in the federal government happens,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we\u2019re better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n Other GOP members of the panel disputed how accurate Rayner and Robinson\u2019s characterization of what Kirk said about race, women and progressive politics.<\/p>\n Hialeah Rep. David Borrero, an FIU alum, described Kirk as having a \u201crelentless, unwavering commitment to pursue what is true\u201d and doing everything \u201cthrough love.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery single person that he spoke with, he always blessed them. He never ridiculed or attacked the person. He always attacked the idea,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a believer, I think that is the standard that we should uphold for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Port Orange Rep. Chase Tramont called the quotes Rayner recited part of \u201cthe same repetitive playbook constantly used\u201d that led to Kirk\u2019s death and two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n He said some of the quotes were either taken out of context, not the full quote or deliberately fabricated.<\/p>\n None were fabricated.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a man spends his life proclaiming the truth, it\u2019s no surprise he\u2019s attacked by lies even in death,\u201d he said. \u201cThis idea that you disagree with me, so you\u2019re a racist \u2014 I\u2019m sick of hearing that. Just over it.\u201d<\/p>\n HB 33 now pends scheduling for a full vote by the House. Its Senate companion (SB 174<\/a>) by Doral Republican Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez advanced through the first of three committees<\/a> to which it was referred last month on a 6-3 vote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Legislation honoring late conservative activist Charlie Kirk with a roadway designation outside of Florida International University (FIU) is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[15646,407,72910,62986,23481,1447,66242,409,62998,2845,2846,72911,72912,25130,8188,60050,8229,68684,123,125,124,1064,373,824,63003,72913,72914,9968,72915],"class_list":["post-150962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-ana-maria-rodriguez","tag-charlie-kirk","tag-charlie-kirk-memorial-avenue","tag-chase-tramont","tag-chip-lamarca","tag-christine-hunschofsky","tag-david-borrero","tag-donald-trump","tag-felicia-robinson","tag-fiu","tag-florida-international-university","tag-gallop-franklin","tag-hb-33","tag-john-snyder","tag-juan-porras","tag-kevin-chambliss","tag-lauderdale-by-the-sea","tag-leonard-spencer","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-miami-dade","tag-miami-dade-county","tag-michele-rayner","tag-michelle-salzman","tag-president-donald-j-trump-boulevard","tag-sb-174","tag-turning-point-usa","tag-yvette-bennaroch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/FloridaAtlantic-728x90-R1-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/HousePhotoOriginal7557-640x424.jpg\")
<\/a>Miami Republican Rep. Juan Porras said Charlie Kirk\u2019s impact on national discourse transcends state lines and deserves recognition in Florida\u2019s most populous county. Image via Florida House.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20250658_FINAL_FloridaPolitics_728x90.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Michele-Rayner-FL-House-640x427.jpg\")
<\/a>Rep. Michele Rayner of St. Petersburg delivered the harshest criticism of HB 33, which she argued aims to honor a man who made numerous racist remarks. \u2018How you die does not redeem how you lived,\u2019 she said. Image via Florida House.<\/p>\n