On Saturday, former President Obama urged voters to disregard the controversial issues parents raised about public schools while campaigning for former VA Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Parents in Virginia and around the country are enraged over a report of a “gender fluid” boy allegedly raping a female student in the bathroom of Loudoun County, public school.
The rage grew after the Loudoun County school system attempted to cover up the assault and prosecute the victim’s father for speaking out during a school board meeting. The 14-year-old abuser was arrested in July and charged with two counts of forcible sodomy.
Obama dismissed the recent controversies as “fake outrage” and “trumped-up culture wars” without specifically referring to the incident. The push to implement critical race theory in the public school curriculum also deeply upsets parents.
“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.
Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate for governor, has focused on the incident indicating the need for major reforms in public schools to protect children.
Obama argued that Youngkin is focused on outrage rather than “serious problems that actually affect serious people.”
“That’s a shame,” he said. “That’s not what this election is about. That’s not what you need, Virginia.”
Obama also accused Youngkin of fueling “conspiracy theories” that led to the January 6 protest on Capitol Hill.
“Either he actually believes in the same conspiracy theories that resulted in a mob, or he doesn’t believe it, but he is willing to go along with it, to say or do anything to get elected,” Obama said. “And maybe that’s worse … because that says something about character.”
