We’ll give MSNBC’s Joy Reid one thing: even though she doesn’t believe critical race theory exists, and certainly not in public schools, she did invite anti-CRT crusader Christopher Rufo on her show to hash it out. John Oliver, of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” is awfully late to the party — the time to have a meltdown over the anti-CRT movement was when Glenn Youngkin triumphed in Virginia. Nevertheless, Oliver went on a rant about the anti-CRT movement and featured Rufo, who responded Monday:
"What Rufo has been cleverly doing is cherry-picking the worst examples that he can find of lessons in classrooms or training materials for teachers and saying, 'that is CRT' … And the thing is—it fucking worked."
Even my enemies can't help but give me the W. pic.twitter.com/4mzxXzOzNt
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) February 21, 2022
So Oliver is admitting that there are some really bad classroom lessons being taught — so why is he defending them?
John Oliver spent 28 minutes hyperventilating about the anti-CRT movement, repeating the dumbest tropes, like "CRT is graduate-level legal theory" and never taught in K-12 schools. But he's doing us an unintentional favor: the more the public learns about CRT, the more we win.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) February 21, 2022
According to Democratic Party pollsters, 61 percent of swing district voters agree with the statement: "Democrats are teaching kids as young as five Critical Race Theory, which teaches that America is a racist country and that white people are racist."
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) February 21, 2022
The reality is that my voice is much more powerful than John Oliver's. The NYT, WaPo, CNN, and MSNBC have been lying about CRT for the past year—and the public doesn't believe them.
We have the truth on our side and we will win. ⚔️
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) February 21, 2022
P.S. The reason John Oliver and Trevor Noah aren't funny is because, traditionally, the court jester is supposed to mock the nobility; Oliver and Noah, by contrast, sneer at the population "below" them.
They're not a challenge to power; they're a mouthpiece for power.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) February 21, 2022
Yep. As if Joe Biden didn’t provide them with material to work with.
The delight of political comedy comes from the assumption of risk. The jester, if he errs, might get beheaded by the king. He goes right up to that line and, consequently, has the audience in rapt attention.
Oliver and Noah risk nothing: they are bland propaganda for the regime.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) February 21, 2022
ONE example of flat out racism in training material for schools in 2022 should be enough to warrant a scandal. The fact that multiple examples exist is insane
— MrTate (@MrTate) February 21, 2022
Isn't cherry picking Oliver's entire career?
— Rodrigo (@RodrigoSFOCNF) February 21, 2022
Imagine, using examples of a problem to prove there’s a problem.
— Logan Spena (@LoganSpena) February 21, 2022
I'm a center-left Democrat who's worked and volunteered on Democratic campaigns for years. CRT is pervading everything, largely through jobs programs for woke studies majors working in "justice" consulting orgs.
— Matt Willard (@MattWillard_CA) February 21, 2022
So "the worst examples aren't real because they're the worst examples"?
If they're the worst examples and that's what you're against, then it's completely reasonable to root them out. If the rest of the stuff is so benign, why would it be weeded out with the egregious bullshit?— Ghost (@nwrmbing) February 21, 2022
You do seem to have an endless supply of “cherry picked” material 😂
— Carey Zivkovich (@CareyZivkovich) February 21, 2022
Not just training materials. Actual in class examples.
— Thomas Einstein (@TEinsteinMD) February 21, 2022
You left out the part where you admit to driving your agenda through manufactured toxicity. pic.twitter.com/e3AKAkgf7q
— C Will (@cwillzx) February 21, 2022
— Rinzler2080 (@rinzler2080) February 21, 2022
People always pull that Rufo tweet as an example of … something. That he’s changing public perceptions about a toxic ideology?
I feel bad for his audience.
They live in a walled news ghetto, getting nothing but leftist approved stories and information, but at the end of the week they still don't know what it all means.
They need John Oliver to wrap it all up a bow and tell them what to think about it.
— ReLuxe (@Mo_Porkburger) February 21, 2022
Hang on … this next thread goes on for a bit, but it’s worth it:
Ok, I'll take a look at @LastWeekTonight's claims about Critical Race Theory https://t.co/3naqCZnkHx
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver starts off at around 1:30 complaining about parents speaking up at school board meetings.
He specifically cites a woman saying "I'm not co-parenting with the gov't" & another saying the US elected Obama and thus isn't racist…
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver claims America is racist because "people kept saying" Obama wasn't really American & was born in Kenya.
Gosh John, who are those people?
Hint: Hillary Clinton's team
Naturally, Oliver blames Trump…somehow.
So right off the bat, Oliver's being very dishonest. pic.twitter.com/qbuVd2mhW9
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver then cited a Loudoun county meeting which "got so out of hand" that is was "shut down early."
Oliver forgets to mention that Loudoun's school board CREATED AN ENEMIES LIST of parents and LIED TO POLICE to cover up a rape! https://t.co/c2YYOY7ot3
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver then goes on to call this reaction to a school board COVERING UP A RAPE by a "boy in a skirt" in a woman's restroom a "manufactured panic" at 2:41.https://t.co/TgIKg8ovJZ
This is one of the most deranged and dishonest things Oliver has ever said.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Again, Oliver is literally accusing Loudon parents and Fox News of creating a "manufactured panic" about when WE KNOW Loudoun County officials flat out lied to cover up a rape by a "boy in a skirt" because it was politically inconvenient for them. pic.twitter.com/UszV2MONTX
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver at 4:45 mocks people for not understanding CRT… and claims that CRT's core idea is that racism is "embedded in legal systems and polices."
This is in fact NOT what CRT's "core idea" is. So Oliver is attacking people for not knowing about something HE doesn't know. pic.twitter.com/etdh1wsFqQ
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver then claims at 4:59 that "none of that is remotely true" after playing clips stating that CRT teaches students to hate America.
This is, in fact, PRECISELY what CRT adherents say CRT should teach, that America was white supremacist "from its very beginnings." pic.twitter.com/WbpJrzhnHJ
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
This is what 1619 Lady has spent literally years on Twitter (not writing for the NYT…bc she hasn't done that in years despite remaining employed by it) flat out lying about.
Ask @PhilWMagness precisely how she's lying. pic.twitter.com/MesvnwJvNu
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver then plays an academic claiming CRT is patriotic because "we believe in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments."
He might want to tell that to President Biden…who doesn't believe that. pic.twitter.com/Rd6LdYqnRQ
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver then claims "CRT is graduate level legal theory" at 5:53.
Well, he shouldn't have a problem banning it in elementary schools since he claims it isn't there.
It is of course, here's the offical Virginia Department of Education expressly saying it uses CRT in classrooms. pic.twitter.com/fenwPgzMDx
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver denounced Loudoun county parents before for attacking this "nonexistent" CRT in schools…
What he doesn't mention is that Loudoun County paid $625 PER HOUR of CRT consulting and the former superintendent admitted that the curriculum "align[s] with the ideology of CRT." pic.twitter.com/NYmYLy3BNL
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Its amazing how Oliver is just straight up lying that CRT isn't in public schools. He then says "it just isn't" true that CRT is in schools and attacks @realchrisrufo directly.
Rufo literally published proof of this. https://t.co/6Z3Wi0D8ZR
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Its straight up amazing to me that Oliver will…without citing any evidence…claims Rufo was lying. He then later at 8:18 admits that Rufo has a point…but says "he's cherry-picking the worst examples that he can find."
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Which is it John? Rufo can't be flat out wrong AND cherrypicking real examples!
Again, the examples Rufo cited are actually FAIRLY NARROWLY TAILORED!
Loudoun actually USE THE SPECIFIC WORDS!
Oliver is just being pathologically dishonest.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver dismisses those "cherrypicked" examples as saying "teachers are human and can make mistakes."
Again, its ACTUALLY IN THE CURRICULUM…which means CRT is actually being taught from ABOVE the teachers…so the fact that teachers aren't perfect is irrelevant.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Before we move on, its worth noting that the CRT view about racism are so extreme that the vast majority of African Americans do not agree with them.
The country is actually a lot less divided than Oliver and Twitter Libs pretend. pic.twitter.com/Rj7MM9aYTS
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
At 11:43 Oliver turns his attention to what he claims the anti-CRT movement is REALLY secretly about…School Choice.
Actually, we're quite public about it…and he even quotes Rufo say as much.
Then claims that the "roots of the school choice movement" are racist.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Now, THAT'S Oliver using CRT…specifically attacking the "root" of something.
You'll note, he never applies the same logic to things with racist roots he supports, like the Minimum Wage.https://t.co/UccWnpjEmL
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
There's also the fact that 60% of African Americans support school choice programs in their communities.https://t.co/urW0OT2gCQ
Kinda odd how Oliver thinks the majority of African Americans are racist against themselves!
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
AT 13:41 Oliver goes on to do some cherrypicking…saying that some voucher schools did things he didn't like.
This is EXACTLY what he claimed to be mad about Rufo doing earlier.
Again, Oliver is PATHOLOGICALLY DISHONEST!
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver then tries to make a hero of this guy around 15:00…who claims that students in Tennessee aren't exposed to African Americans after he was sacked for forcing kids to read CRT adherents.
Aka, the whitest person ever pic.twitter.com/xYFnJugjVz
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Notably, Tennessee has a higher percentage of African Americans than the US population…so its kinda weird for the whitest person ever to claim students in that state somehow aren't aware of them. (Notice how the "overrepresented" thing is only ever applied selectively) pic.twitter.com/gOH67hpZfC
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver then complains about a Tennessee CRT ban, which state Rep John Ragan justified citing a 7 year old girl who told her mother "I'm ashamed to be white, is there something wrong with me?"
Oliver then ATTACKS THE MOTHER and claims she doesn't exist. (No evidence cited by JO)
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
This is so long that I had to stop bc Twitter wouldn't allow that many tweets in a thread…
Then Oliver goes on throughout 19:00 and 21:00 attacking conservatives for CITING MLK JR.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
At 22:00 Oliver gets OUTRAGED that in Florida Gov. DeSanti's Stop Woke Act would allow parents to sue if their kids are taught CRT…
Anyone with ANY understanding of how educational systems work would know that practically everything in them is determined by lawsuits.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
At 22:13, Oliver goes on to claim that book bans are on the rise…
He neglects to mention that these bans are largely Critical Race Theorists "decolonizing" the curriculum. https://t.co/rsspMH1Qhdhttps://t.co/73CH36caID
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
Oliver's "main point" is literally to conflate opposition to Critical Race Theory with allegedly not wanting race to be taught about in schools. He expressly says this around 25:00.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 21, 2022
That’s the Big Lie about the anti-CRT movement.
I'm sure @LastWeekTonight would welcome the opportunity to debate you or Mr. Rufo about this.
Right?
— Erich Hawbaker (@GrayChevyVan) February 21, 2022
Sure thing.
Related:
Superintendent of Detroit schools says their curriculum is ‘deeply using critical race theory’ https://t.co/g3Gzdc2EjM
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 1, 2021
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