Critics slammed former President Barack Obama after he suggested that recent anger against school administrators in Virginia was due to “trumped-up culture wars.”
“What is phony exactly? The school rape coverup or Terry McAuliffe saying parents shouldn’t be involved in their child’s education? Shameless gaslighting to prop up a candidate the left knows is in serious trouble,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) said.
“Virginia public schools have pushed critical race theory in the classroom, suppressed concerned parents at school board meetings, and covered up for a gender-fluid sexual predator, who allegedly raped two innocent girls,” the Manhattan Institute’s Christopher Rufo replied.
“Guy who ran for re-election on ‘War on Women’ suddenly pretends that cultural issues are phony,” National Review senior writer Dan McLaughlin noted.
Obama stumped for former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) on Saturday as McAulliffe struggles in a tight race against his Republican competitor Glenn Youngkin in Virginia’s gubernatorial election. During his speech, the former president took shots at Youngkin, who has campaigned against the spread of certain progressive ideas, such as critical race theory, and policies in public schools.
“He’s accusing schools of brainwashing our kids,” Obama remarked.
“Here we are trying to recover from a global pandemic that has killed more than 700,000 Americans, that has shut down thousands of small businesses and put millions out of work. We don’t have time to be wasting on these phony, trumped-up culture wars, this fake outrage, the right-wing media’s pedals to juice their ratings,” Obama later said. “And the fact that he’s willing to go along with it? Instead of talking about serious problems that affect serious people? That’s a shame. That’s not what this election is about. That’s not what you need, Virginia.”
“Instead of forcing our communities to cut back at a time when we are just starting to recover, we should be doing more to support people who are educating our kids and keeping our neighborhoods safe,” Obama continued.
The former president also accused Youngkin of undermining U.S. election integrity through his support of new measures to bolster Virginia’s elections, such as auditing the state’s voting machines and strengthening voter I.D. laws.
“Instead of spreading misinformation and disinformation about the last election, we should be trying to strengthen our democracy and make it easier for more people to vote in future elections,” Obama said.
“Instead of stoking anger aimed at school boards and administrators who are just trying to keep our kids safe, who are just doing their jobs, stoking anger to the point that some of them are actually getting death threats, we should be making it easier for teachers and schools to give our kids the world-class education they deserve, and to do so safely while they’re in the classroom,” he continued.
Obama’s comments come after The Daily Wire uncovered that school administrators in Loudoun County allegedly took steps to cover up a rape allegation after a female student’s family claimed she was sexually assaulted in a girls’ bathroom by a male student wearing a skirt and claiming to be transgender.
Since The Daily Wire report, Loudoun County school officials have been under intense pressure to explain the alleged incident. One school board member, Beth Barts, has resigned since the scandal broke, and the district’s superintendent, Scott Ziegler, has apologized for making “misleading” comments as parents and reporters push for answers.
Earlier this year, Loudoun County became a hot spot of parent outrage at school administrators over Critical Race Theory-inspired curriculum being taught to students in the public school system.