On Monday, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he believes Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union, is the “most dangerous person in the world.”
Pompeo made the remarks in an interview with Semafor. In the interview, he discussed a possible 2024 presidential run and issues the Republican Party should be focusing on.
“The central ideas of America are timeless — limited government, expanded set of freedoms, protecting the capacity of people to practice their faith,” Pompeo said, adding that “making sure we don’t teach our kids crap in schools” should be a core issue. He then expressed that Weingarten and teachers unions are teaching children “filth” and “don’t know math and reading and writing.”
“I tell the story often — I get asked ‘Who’s the most dangerous person in the world? Is it Chairman Kim, is it Xi Jinping?’ The most dangerous person in the world is Randi Weingarten. It’s not a close call. If you ask, ‘Who’s the most likely to take this republic down?’ It would be the teacher’s unions, and the filth that they’re teaching our kids, and the fact that they don’t know math and reading or writing. These are the things that candidates should speak to in a way that says, ‘Here’s the problem. Here’s a proposal for how to solve it. And if given the opportunity, these are the things I will go work on to try and deliver that outcome that fixes that problem.’ Pretty straightforward stuff,” Pompeo said in the interview.
Pompeo continued, stating that pointing out something in a textbook that “shouldn’t be there” is “just openers.”
“If our kids don’t grow up understanding America is an exceptional nation, we’re done. If they think it’s an oppressor class and an oppressed class, if they think the 1619 Project, and we were founded on a racist idea — if those are the things people entered the seventh grade deeply embedded in their understanding of America, it’s difficult to understand how Xi Jinping’s claim that America is in decline won’t prove true,” he said.
Weingarten responded in a tweet, claiming that she didn't know if she should describe the interview as "ridiculous" or "dangerous."
I know that Mike Pompeo is running for president, and frankly I don’t know whether to characterize his characterization of me in the @daveweigel interview as ridiculous or dangerous. https://t.co/5QBx2lE0K4
— Randi Weingarten 🇺🇦🇺🇸💪🏿👩🎓 (@rweingarten) November 22, 2022
This month, Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson introduced legislation to block federal funding for corrupt teachers unions.
“Corrupt teachers’ unions sold out our kids when they lined Democrat politicians’ pockets with campaign contributions to keep students out of the classroom, and later to force masking, despite clear evidence that these decisions were harmful to kids’ educational and developmental growth,” Jackson said. “They have even pushed a radical and inappropriate curriculum which seeks to indoctrinate our students with a woke, racist, and anti-American worldview.”
Townhall has reported how teachers' unions have pushed curriculums that teach about sexual orientation and gender identity to children as young as kindergarten, and, in some cases, school districts have advised their teachers to conceal students’ gender identity transitions from parents.
In one instance, America’s largest teachers' union provided educators in Ohio with online resources to direct students to how-to guides promoting “non-binary” gender identities, “queer sex,” and the idea that “transgender men” can become pregnant.
In addition, several teachers' unions were organizing strikes at the onset of the 2022-2023 school year over things like air conditioning in schools, salaries, and staffing. This occurred despite the fact that the government set aside billions of taxpayer dollars during the pandemic for school districts in part to replace outdated HVAC systems, hire new staff and bring teachers out of retirement, and raise salaries. Reports also broke that less than 40 percent of public schools that received the money used the funds to address issues with air conditioning.
To top it off, the latest report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that math and reading scores among 9-year-olds fell across all race and income levels in the past two years, though they were significantly worse among low-ranking students. Those in the 90th percentile showed a 3 percent drop in math scores, while students in the 10th percentile fell 12 points, which Leah covered. Average 9-year-old scores declined the most on record for math (seven points) and in reading since 1990 (five points).
“The very people who were supposed to have our kids’ best interest at heart have repeatedly betrayed them. It’s time we restore parents’ voices, prohibit corrupt teachers’ unions from using your tax dollars to advance their radical agenda, and send them a clear message: LEAVE OUR KIDS ALONE!” Jackson said about his legislation.