Ostensibly leftist academic Cornel West launched his third-party presidential campaign the way any true progressive would — by promoting it on a podcast known to spread right-wing extremist conspiracy theories, hosted on a video platform popular among right-wing extremists, just weeks after having praised Florida’s right-wing extremist governor, Ron DeSantis.

In his praise for the Florida Republican — in a Wall Street Journal op-ed headlined “DeSantis’s Revolutionary Defense of the Classics” — West and a conservative co-author endorsed the governor’s support for Florida high schoolers being able to qualify for scholarships by using scores from the Classic Learning Test.

Yes, this is the same DeSantis whose administration has been curbing lesson plans and banning books written about, by and for nonwhite and LGBTQ people. But if you suffer through the op-ed, you’ll find a seeming rationale for West’s and co-author Jeremy Wayne Tate’s position at the very end: They’re both associated with the organization that administers a more Christian-focused college admissions test that some conservatives have been pushing as a replacement for the SAT. Tate is the founder and CEO of the Classic Learning Test, and West sits on its board of academic advisers.

[Holy SMOKES – see if you can keep up with THAT. ~ Beege]