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Though some would disagree, I don’t think it’s even arguable at this point that Terry McAuliffe’s eye-opening comments during a Sept. 2021 Virginia gubernatorial debate with Glenn Youngkin on the public school system effectively doomed McAuliffe’s campaign.
As many RedState readers will recall, McAuliffe, then the Democratic nominee, told Republican nominee Youngkin during an exchange on parental rights in education that “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
In the aftermath, McAuliffe’s campaign imploded as he repeatedly doubled down in public appearances and interviews, even walking off the set of one news outlet in a huff. His poll numbers cratered with education-focused voters dramatically shifting away from him in the closing weeks of the campaign.
The rest, as they say, is history, and from that moment on Democrats were put on notice that the sleeping giant in the form of parents had been awakened – and that they wouldn’t back down in the face of intimidation attempts by the Biden administration, or anyone else.
Fast forward two years and Education Sec. Miguel Cardona, one of many far-left activists Joe Biden has in his cabinet, had what may be his own Terry McCauliffe moment in remarks that could come back to haunt his boss in 2024.
In an interview Cardona did with the Associated Press, he was asked about his comments on public schools and education allegedly being “under attack” and to expand on them.
Cardona told the news outlet that once upon a time, “There was civility. We could disagree. We could have healthy conversations around what’s best for kids,” but times in his view had changed.
“I respect differences of opinion,” he went on to say. “I don’t have too much respect for people that are misbehaving in public and then acting as if they know what’s right for kids.”
Watch:
Education Secretary Cardona says that he doesn’t have “too much respect” for parents who have been “misbehaving” at school board meetings.
Read Related Also: Indiana AG accused of misconduct in abortion case
They’re “acting like they know what’s right for kids!” pic.twitter.com/uQf9nbZJ0F
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 22, 2023
Cardona’s remarks drew a sharp rebuke from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin, whose boss has been under relentless attack from the left/media for the last two-plus years over his commitment to keeping gender identity politics and wokeness out of the Sunshine State’s public school classrooms, in addition to strengthening the rights of parents:
Parents, this administration wants you to remain calm (and butt out) as public schools cause your child to question their gender and then the government weaponizes against you.
They all need to go. https://t.co/BTTGekPAlA
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) September 22, 2023
Cardona has made no secret in the past of his disdain for parental input in the education of their children. Flashback:
Biden’s Education Secretary Cardona says parents should not be the “primary stakeholder” in their kids’ education. pic.twitter.com/kZo2pr7Bds
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 30, 2021
There was also this tweet Cardona posted back in May, just laying it all out there so there was no mistaking where he stood in the debate:
Teachers know what is best for their kids because they are with them every day. We must trust teachers.
As has often been said, when they tell us who they really are, we should listen. Except in this case, Cardona is telling us not just who he is but who Joe Biden is, too. That’s something that all voters, especially those with skin in the game, should remember as they head to the polls in 2024.
Flashback: Joe Biden Takes Swipe at Ron DeSantis, Ends up Committing Glorious Self-Own on School Choice
