Obama Calls Parental Anger in Virginia ‘Fake Outrage’

Even Barack Obama couldn’t give a speech on behalf of Terry McAuliffe without making a critical gaffe.

The former president wasted no time trying to whitewash McAuliffe’s record on parental rights in public schools. However, in doing so, he tried to gaslight Virginia’s parents.

Appearing alongside McAuliffe at a campaign rally over the weekend, Obama called the handling of sexual assault cases by Loudoun County Public Schools, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s memo directing the FBI to mobilize against concerned parents and Terry McAuliffe’s past anti-parent screeds all fake news trumped up by conservative media.

Never mind that outlets of all political stripes have reported on controversies in schools and passionate debates at school board meetings for months.

Per The Federalist:

“We don’t have time to be wasted on these phony trumped-up culture wars, this fake outrage, the right-wing media’s pedals to juice their ratings,” Obama said while campaigning for Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, adding: “Instead of stoking anger aimed at school boards and administrators, who are just trying to keep our kids safe,… 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 are in the classroom.”

Indeed, the many controversies involving Virginia public schools were enough trigger the resignation of Loudoun County School Board member Beth Barts, an investigation by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, and an admission by Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler that they “failed to provide” a “safe, welcoming, and affirming environment.” The events were also enough to cause enrollment in Fairfax County’s public schools, one of the most sought-after school districts in 2019, to fall by more than 10,000 students since the start of the lockdowns.

But at the behest of the nation’s largest school board association, President Biden’s Justice Department labeled these parents potential “domestic terrorists.” McAuliffe says he doesn’t think parents “should be telling schools what they should teach.” And Obama suggests parental outrage over these instances is “fake.”

While campaigning for Democrats in the state, Obama went so far as to accuse Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin of concentrating on controversial educational issues instead of “serious problems that affect serious people.” Yes—because no serious person would complain about unserious problems such as severe learning loss, violence, exposing children to pornography, and child rape.

What do you think about Obama’s comments—and do you worry that his presence will increase the Democratic Party’s turnout? Tell us below!

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Republican Standard.