A follow-up to this post, in which I offered several piece of evidence refuting Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe's assertion that 'Critical Race Theory' is a mythical racist dogwhistle. He has doubled and tripled down on this lie, smearing parents who are rightly concerned about a host of education-related issues, from closures, to controversial curricula, to racial essentialism and "equity" indoctrination. On my radio show this week, CRT expert Christopher Rufo further rebutted McAuliffe's gaslighting denials, showcasing additional examples of the phenomenon McAuliffe denies exists in his state:
He is sticking with this lie/smear. Here is @realchrisrufo schooling him with evidence, not that he’s interested: https://t.co/jvQpBOevie https://t.co/QUrysy1zKP
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 13, 2021
"McAuliffe’s idea that it’s not taught in Virginia schools is verifiably false. We have records, including actual contract receipts from Loudoun County, Virginia. They actually are paying six hundred and twenty five dollars an hour for consulting. That specifically references critical race theory by name...The former superintendent even admitted in an email to parents that the ideology that they’re promoting in Loudoun county are directly aligned with critical race theory. And also in Fairfax County, we have Asian-American parents that are in revolt against changes to the advanced education system, and they argue that with the implementation of critical race theory ideology in Fairfax County schools, they’re now going after merit. They’re going after advanced classes...We have actual receipts and contract data. And so McAuliffe is trying to maintain that fiction until he can kind of run out the clock.”
After we had that conversation, Rufo produced yet more evidence fortifying the point. Remember, McAuliffe is angrily insisting that none of this is real -- and anyone opposed to any of it is spreading scurrilous racism:
And here's another one: the Virginia Department of Education is currently promoting an initiative called "anti-racism in education," which features the critical race guru Ibram X. Kendi and explicitly deriving their definitions from "critical race theory."https://t.co/CGX07A1OOJ pic.twitter.com/aXdJAQqh8h
— Christopher F. Rufo ?? (@realchrisrufo) October 13, 2021
This has trickled down to the districts. Fairfax Co. trained teachers in the "application" of "critical race theory." Loudoun Co. paid $625/hr for "critical race theory" consulting and the former superintendent admitted that the curriculum "align[s] with the ideology of CRT." pic.twitter.com/vWWSrURvBA
— Christopher F. Rufo ?? (@realchrisrufo) October 13, 2021
In our interview, Rufo suggested that McAuliffe is simply trying to "run out the clock." The election is just a few weeks away. Most public polls show the Democrat ahead by 3-5 points (I'll note that many public state- and district-level polls have underestimated GOP support in recent cycles), but Republican internals reportedly look much more promising -- and a new survey from an outfit (which was more accurate than many of the major pollsters in some key states last year) shows a pure toss-up, with Republican Glenn Youngkin ahead by a hair:
Youngkin has razor thin lead in #VAGov race:
— Robert C. Cahaly (@RobertCahaly) October 15, 2021
48.4% @GlennYoungkin,
47.5% @TerryMcAuliffe,
1.3% Third Party/Write-In
2.8% Undecided,
According to @trafalgar_group #poll Conducted 10/11-10-13.
See Report: https://t.co/27f8lnj8XJ pic.twitter.com/lTjx7rd6gw
It could be a nail-biter, and every vote counts, which is why leftist dark money groups are trying to depress conservative turnout with underhanded suppression tricks. Meanwhile, if you haven't read this horrifying story out of Loudon County, Virginia, brace yourself, then read it. In short, one of the parents who has become the face of "parents gone wild" is a man whose daughter was allegedly raped in a high school bathroom by a gender fluid offender who allegedly struck again after being transferred to a different school. These appalling reported incidents are not a fair basis for formulating broader policies or scapegoating any community. But the district is accused of covering-up what happened and lying about bathroom assaults, which is indefensible. That local and school officials tried to turn the furious father of an alleged assault survivor into the villain is breathtaking. People are mistrustful and angry for good reason, and this episode -- which may involve violations of the law by the district -- helps illustrate why schools and education have become red hot issues in the Virginia race.
I also encourage you to listen to former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy discussing the Biden/Garland Justice Department's outrageous and abusive intervention on heated school board meetings, at the behest of a special interest group accusing parents of constituting a "domestic terrorism" threat worthy of enforcement under the Patriot Act. McCarthy notes that when Garland was a senior official in the DOJ back in the 1990's, he was a stickler for oversight and caution involving investigations into bona fide terrorist threats from Islamists, ever vigilant against any hint of a First Amendment violation or the appearance of chilling free expression. There is nothing even close to a bona fide terrorist threat at play here, with no federal jurisdiction, yet Attorney General Garland is suddenly willing to flex the muscles of federal law enforcement. This is what a politicized Justice Department looks like. So is this, via Katie. I'll leave you with this:
Add to this a lot of coverage of CRT ire assumes it’s exclusively CRT ire, when it’s actually a double whammy. SCHOOLS WERE CLOSED FOR A YEAR as boards scoffed at concerned parents & then a coalition of already pissed off parents got into curriculum. https://t.co/Z8N6KP9KQT
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) October 15, 2021