WaPo: GOP Siding with Anti-CRT ‘Angry Mob’ Is ‘Grade A Demagoguery’

Republicans are guilty of “grade A demagoguery” for exploiting a new Department of Justice (DOJ) memorandum combating alleged threats from “the angry mob” of vocal parents who’ve spoken out against the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools, in order to vilify the Biden administration and regain power, according to Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman.

The essay, published in the Post on Wednesday, began by slamming Republicans for their response to the controversial DOJ memorandum issued earlier in the week. 

In it, the FBI is directed to develop “strategies addressing threats against school administrators” in order to “protect” them and various staff, noting concerns of a “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence” without citing specific cases.

In the face of “the threat of mob violence,” Waldman accused Republicans in Congress of “defend[ing] the mob” and ensuring law enforcement “doesn’t crack down too hard on it,” adding that was “the clear message being sent from up and down the right.”

Also in the memorandum issued Monday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said threats to public servants are not only illegal but “run counter to our nation’s core values.” 

Waldman referred to the memorandum as a “perfect opportunity” for Republicans to convince their supporters that the Biden administration is “tyrannical,” conservatives are “oppressed,” and “mob intimidation is an appropriate response to any public policy they disagree with.”

He then blamed the “trend that has become disturbingly common” of criticizing health officials and political figures on issues such as shutdowns and mask mandates, for parents now turning on teachers and critical race theory (CRT) programming in schools.

Claiming that local officials became “the target of right-wing rage” and public health officials were targeted by “a relentless campaign of threats and harassment,” Waldman insisted that election officials have also been threatened by Trump supporters “convinced of the existence of a far-reaching conspiracy to steal the 2020 election.”

“[N]ow it’s teachers, principals, and school boards, whipped up by a campaign of race-baiting meant to convince white people that their children’s schools are a hotbed of radical teachings, combined with festering anger about the supposed oppression of having to wear a mask when indoors in large groups,” he wrote.

In response to Republican outcry over the DOJ memo, Waldman claimed Republican senators and conservative media personalities “see it as a golden opportunity for some grade A demagoguery,” calling the “faux” Republican outrage a way “to exercise power over policy even when they lack the formal authority to do so” 

Admitting a “long history” in the U.S. of law enforcement “identifying real or not-so-real threats” and then “using the excuse of those threats to target and oppress innocent people,” he went on to claim those victims were different.

“[Those] victims have not been polite suburban moms; they’re more likely to have been racial and ethic minorities or people with leftist views,” he wrote. 

“The Fox News audience has little to worry about,” he added.

Claiming “threats of violence against public officials are now simply part of the Republican repertoire,” Waldman reiterated it was a perfect “instrument” for Republicans to regain their power.

“Even if most people who vote GOP would never threaten their local school principal, Republican politicians know that a number of their supporters would,” he said. 

“And one level below that — the furious mob, screaming over a lie they’ve been told on Fox — is seen by those politicians not as a dangerous threat to society but as an instrument for them to regain power,” he added.

Waldman concluded by accusing Republicans of doing whatever possible to protect the “mob” while portraying themselves as heroes.

“So they’ll do what they can to protect that mob, condemn its targets (whatever they are), and find any excuse they can to portray themselves as the courageous and oppressed,” he wrote.

“The result is likely to be more mobs and more violence,” he added.

On Tuesday, Republicans blasted the attorney general in response to his memorandum seeking to “protect” school administrators and staff from alleged threats of violence, with many accusing the attorney general of “weaponizing” the DOJ and seeking to silence any dissent.

“At his confirmation hearing, Merrick Garland promised not to follow the Obama model of weaponizing DOJ to target & persecute his political opponents,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) wrote. “Just a few months in, he’s already breaking that promise.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) declared his intention to defend free speech against Garland’s “intimidation.” 

“Attorney General Garland is weaponizing the DOJ by using the FBI to pursue concerned parents and silence them through intimidation,” DeSantis wrote. “Florida will defend the free speech rights of its citizens and will not allow federal agents to squelch dissent.”

Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) in a Tuesday letter, accused Garland of using the FBI and DOJ “to intimidate and silence parents who are exercising their First Amendment rights.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), in his own letter to Garland, blasted the memo while describing CRT as a “radical racist ideology.” 

“Americans have responded to this radical ideology by winning elections for local school boards and protesting peacefully at school board meetings,” he wrote. “Yet your memo yesterday to the FBI and local U.S. attorneys ignored all of this and warned of an insurgence of ‘threats of violence’ and ‘efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views.’”

Appearing on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight on Tuesday, Hawley told the primetime host that FBI agents should be dealing with “the unprecedented surge of crime of illegal immigration [and] drug smuggling” at the border, yet “instead, we’re going to go after parents.” 

“You’ve lost the argument when you are sending FBI agents to try and silence voting tax-paying parents,” he added. 

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) also sent a letter to Garland on Wednesday, battering him with questions about the controversial memo.

Garland’s memo follows the penning of a letter to President Joe Biden by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) requesting “federal law enforcement and other assistance” in dealing with parents frustrated by mask mandates and CRT programming for school children.

In an exchange with Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions last week, Biden Education Secretary Miguel Cardona refused to say that parents are the “primary” stakeholders in their children’s education.

Cardona’s comments came just two days after former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) caused a firestorm on social media following his remark, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

The battle over CRT in schools has resulted in nationwide tension in recent months.

The theory, which is promoted by many on the left, claims that American institutions — the government, economy, and culture — are based on racial hierarchy, with white people at the top and black people at the bottom, and even that which appears race-neutral is, on closer inspection, rooted in racism. 

As a result, it urges reform in virtually all of its institutions.

In June, a former Democrat congressional candidate called on Americans to listen to black parents who oppose CRT “indoctrination” in schools, while calling on black Americans to reject the Democrat Party’s race narrative and, instead, realize “that their skin color is not a barrier to their progress,” adding that Democrats use race to galvanize black electorate support though many black Americans actually “have conservative ideals.”

Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.