American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten found herself in the spotlight after making remarks about the education policies of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
“DeSantis has been a disaster on education,” Weingarten criticized DeSantis during the GOP debate. “They’re banning history, they’re banning books, banning AP psych and have a terrible teacher shortage.”
“Nobody should be taking advice form him on schools,” she continued in a Wednesday post to her X account.
Weingarten’s comments met with swift pushback. Critics highlighted her stance during the COVID-19 pandemic when she was accused of advocating for prolonged school closures and mandatory masking for school children.
Florida GOP Vice Chairman Evan Power responded caustically to Weingarten’s remarks, claiming she had been detrimental to children’s education.
“You know who was a disaster for education?” asked Power. “@rweingarten is, she wanted kids locked out of schools and forced to wear masks.”
“The learning losses start and end with her.”
Another individual commented, “The people who banned school don’t get to talk about this.”
The AFT president had previously penned a letter addressing her critics in a September 2022 editorial published by The Wall Street Journal beneath the headline, “Randi Weingarten Flunks the Pandemic.”
“This tweet brought to you by the lady who enthusiastically supported banning…checks notes…school itself,” remarked podcast host Mary Katharine Ham.
Karol Markowicz, a Russian native raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., and not living in Florida, added, “She’s still mad she couldn’t force Florida schools to close and she only got to hurt poor kids in blue areas.”
During the GOP debate, DeSantis addressed the federal government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially under the Trump administration.
“Why are we in this mess?” asked the Florida Republican. “Part of it and a major reason is because how this federal government handled COVID-19 by locking down this economy.”
DeSantis claimed he would have dismissed Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the government’s COVID-19 pandemic response during Trump’s tenure.
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