Former US president Donald Trump lashed out at the UK schooling and education system and said if elected to power he will bring back “common sense schooling”.
His remarks came while he campaigning Iowa and said it was an integral part of his “America First” campaign, reigniting a debate on the issue which will dominate next year’s election.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: "I will immediately sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school that's pushing Critical Race Theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children. They're children!" pic.twitter.com/42fShqCe3i— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) March 14, 2023
He said if voted to power he will stop “wokeness” encroaching US education system.
The introduction or removal of subjects related to gender and race has become a cultural flashpoint in the United States.
“We have to get back to common sense, and that is reading, writing, arithmetic,” Trump told potential voters in Davenport, Iowa. Trump said schools have now become “indoctrination camps” where children are being sexualized.
“What they’re teaching in schools today is insane,” Trump further added, according to a report by news agency AFP.
With his statement, Trump is not only following the lead of the Republican Party who uses this hot button issue to assail Democrats but is also attempting to enter a territory which is usually the domain of Florida governor Ron DeSantis who once said that Florida is the state where ‘woke comes to die’.
Trump said if voted to power he will champion school choice, the right of parents to elect principals, and ensure state has more control over school curriculums rather than the federal government.
“As president I’ll fight to expand that right to every single state in America. School choice is where it’s at,” Trump said, while reiterating that federal funding programs will be cut down as they aim to teach children subjects like “critical race theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content”.
He also pledged that he will keep men out of women’s sports, referring to the ongoing debate regarding transwomen participating in women’s sports.
The Democrats fired back at Trump by stating that Trump’s support for school choice is an effort to hurt public school system in the US and move billions of dollars towards private schools.
“Everyone will see right through Donald Trump’s desperate spin about his own record as the GOP field races to out-MAGA each other at the expense of America’s kids,” Democratic National Committee spokesman Rhyan Lake said in a statement.
(with inputs from AFP)
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